Living in the Shadows
by Caramel23
Summary: Part Two of Paranoid Five months after the group rescues Sasuke, Sakura and Sasuke are sent out on another mission following up on mysterious deaths. Trapped in a deadly maze of traps and tunnles alone will a flame spark...assuming they stay alive first.
1. Her lucky break

**So Sorry that it took me SOOO long to update. Actually this story had been done for a while, it was a matter of uploading it. (The program was messed up I guess...) My TT story wasn't going the way I wanted to, so I deleted it and now I'm revising the basic outline. (I'm known to do random things like that) So, until my TT story is up to my standards... You Naruto fans get Your Paranoid continued. **

**_Disclaimer- I don't own Naruto...yada yada...the whole deal._**

**_Shall we?_**

Living in the Shadows

(Paranoid Part Two)

Sakura stretched out her arms yawning. Sunlight gently streamed in from her window casting a warm glow in her room. She rubbed her eyes and sat there for a few moments trying to wake up. After a while she lazily got up and dragged herself to the bathroom. Afterwards she left, still yawning and looking tired, down stairs to the kitchen. She nearly screamed when she saw Naruto gulping down a bowl of Ramen and sticky rice. He grinned.

"Hello! Sakura, good morning. Geez, you look a little tired, maybe you should go back to bed and rest." He said raising the chopsticks to his mouth.

Sakura scowled her eyes twitching as she patted her hair down. "Shut up, what are you doing in my house so early?!" she yelled balling her fist.

Naruto's eyes widened when her saw her fist ball up ready to attack. He slowly got up and backed away. "Sakura…Sakura wait just a second and let me explain." He said as she inched closer.

Sakura eyed him angry as hell. She raised her fist high in the air ready to bring it down on the top of his head. "NARUTO!!!!" **KILL HIM!! CHA CHA CHA!**

"Ah! Wait, wait, wait, wait!" he shouted dodging the blow and running to the other side of the table. "Wait, Sasuke, he wanted to see you. I just ate a little snack while you were asleep! I didn't want to wake you!" he said covering the top of his head as she bought it swinging down.

She froze and blinked. "Wha…what? Sasuke wants to see…me?" she stuttered her cheeks filling up with red.

Naruto sighed in relief. "Yeah, so does Kakashi, it's some mission meeting. I can't go cause I have to 'assist Hinata' and all that. I don't mind or nothing but, it's probably going to be some boring mission."

Sakura exhaled. "Well, here I thought it was something else." She said gloomily. _"Oh come on Sakura, like Sasuke's really going to ask for alone time with you…"_

Disappointed and still tired Sakura went back up to her room to get dressed leaving Naruto in the kitchen to finish his meal. She searched her closet and pulled out her new outfit. She still wore her pink one but it seemed to out grow her every since the last incident when Sasuke was kidnapped. She stared aimlessly in her closet.

_"Would you wait for me if I asked?"_

_"Wait…wait, for what?"_

_"Will you keep loving me until I can kill Itachi? Sakura…"_

She shook her head. It was only five months ago…but it seemed as if it never happened. Like she made it up. He was still the same old Sasuke, still ignored her, and still was cold. It was hopeless, but if it was, then why did she keep trying anyway?

Shrugging she pulled out the outfit she was looking for. It was black with pink, something different for her. Amazingly Naruto had suggested the colors since his new outfit was grey orange and black. His was actually not half bad. He had loose fitting pants that were pitch black, a orange jacket, and a see though grey shirt which (even though most of the girls would never admit it) showed off an attractive, fit, stomach. Sasuke's outfit was pretty much the same though, black shorts, black top.

Her outfit was a little "older" in a way. It consisted of a short black skirt and a pink/black half top. Her shoes went half way up her calf and a belt for her weapons laced across her stomach. Fish nets covered the rest of her skin but it was still seeable. It attracted a lot of attention from the male ninja. She heard compliments and seen guys checking her out except Sasuke. He just stared at her for a quick second and turned his head like it was nothing. But she liked it anyway. Putting it on she brushed her hair and ran down stairs to leave.

Before she left she waved to Naruto. "Clean up when you're done and lock my door before you leave." She said slamming the door shut. She ran out into the streets of Konoha and to the training grounds. Her heart pounded, not only because she was going to see Sasuke, but because she had been bored for quite some time and was ready for a little action. Just something to keep her busy and to keep her mind off of what _had_ happened.

Arriving at the training grounds she slowed down to catch her breath. She saw Sasuke and smiled. "Hi Sasuke! Good morning!" she said running up to him.

He turned around and nodded barely acknowledging that he noticed her. She resisted the urge to frown at the mild greeting.

"So…where's Kakashi?" she asked. _"That was a stupid question, he's always late dumb ass."_

"He's late." Sasuke said simply.

She nodded.

**CHA! Sakura, of course he's late, say something! Be witty, have a conversation!**

"So, do you think he'll be here soon?" Sakura asked. She mentally kicked herself. Of course not, he was always late. Him being on time would be unnatural and almost creepy. _"So much for being witty."_

**You're such a loser Sakura! Cha, how could you be such a lame butt?**

_"If I'm lame, you're lame, so shut the hell up." _

Sakura kicked herself mentally again not sure if she had said that aloud or not. Inner Sakura was always saying something smart assed. It was like a second personality and it got on her nerves when it raved on about her being a loser.

Sakura opened her mouth to say something but no words came out. She searched her brain for some sort of topic to strike a conversation with but gave up when her best idea turned out to be Naruto in her house. Sighing she sat down in the soft grass and gazed up at the blinding blue sky. It was shocking how clear it was today.

_"Child, as I said before, what I need my brother for is of no concern to you."_

_"Get out! I won't tell him so forget it!"_

_"I didn't tell you because I didn't know if he would hurt you or not. I just wanted to protect you…"_

_"Follow my lead and we'll see what happens."_

_"I just said teamwork."_

_"Sakura-brow finally."_

_"Now will you help?"_

_"_Your_ baby? It's clear Ino-_pig_ that he's in love with me."_

_"Hardly Sakura-brow, has he ever said it?"_

_"He told me he loved me…"_

_"He's not dead."_

_"SASUKE!"_

_"Would you wait for me…"_

Sakura snapped out of her thoughts sharply as she felt a hand tap her shoulder. She looked at Sasuke. "Huh?"

"He's here." Sasuke said.

Suddenly Kakashi popped out of no where with a brilliant display of smoke and crackling noises.

"You're late." Sasuke said in an irritated tone.

Kakashi grinned his one showing eye shining in glee. "Yeah, sorry about that, I had to go all the way across town. There was this road that was irresistible to pass up." He grinned again.

Sakura got up and dusted herself off. "So, what are we here for?"

Kakashi suddenly turned very serious. "Well, we got a couple of dead ninja outside of our gate's. It's too close for comfort. We found a building filled with tunnels-"

Sakura groaned. "Please, not more tunnels." She said.

Kakashi laughed lightly. "I know, the last place you want to be is running though a tunnel, especially after our last adventure. But you have no choice. The building had recent blood stains that matched one of the victims blood on it's outside wall. We searched a little but got called back for something else. We need someone to go back in and search more."

Sakura sighed. "Who else is going?"

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head. "Well…as dangerous as it is, we simply don't have enough people to go around now a days. It's just going to be you and Sasuke. I had to lend Naruto on a mission to the Sand village and I'm needed somewhere else."

Sasuke stiffened a little at the thought. He didn't know why but tiny, almost undetectable shivers ran through his body. Almost as if he was…nervous and excited. He rolled his eyes in annoyance. What has gotten into him?

On the other hand it was all Sakura had to contain herself. _"Sasuke! And me! Alone! Sure there will be danger, and tunnels, and life threatening situations but..! I can't believe this!"_

**CHA! Me and Sasuke alone at last!**

_"Shut up, it's not you're moment it's mine."_

**I though we were the same people…**

_"You thought wrong."_

Sakura squealed and quickly covered her mouth. "Opps…" she said glancing at the floor.

Sasuke glanced over at Sakura. He couldn't help himself. She wasn't looking half bad in her new outfit. He shrugged and walked away. "I'm going to pack up." He said. "It sounds like a long trip."

Kakashi nodded. "Sure is, I won't be surprised if we have to send it search crews, all those tunnels and stuff. We barely got out."

Sakura nodded still excited. She walked/ran towards home to get her equipment. She couldn't wait.

Suddenly, when Sakura and Sasuke were halfway off the training grounds Kakashi remembered something. "Oh! You two, wait!" Kakashi shouted, but before he could say anything Sasuke vanished and Sakura's excitement had made her legs run like the wind. They were both gone and out of hearing distance.

"I forgot to tell them," Kakashi said chuckling nervously. "That the place it filled with deadly traps."

_Italics- this type of print means the person is looking into the past or thinking. _**Bold- this type print is Inner Sakura. _Just incase you guys didn't know. Reveiw for m,e ok? (Sorry about punctuation.)_**

**__**

**_Oh yeah, I was aksed to add Lemon..I'm not a big fan of adding it in my stories but I guess stepping out of the box won't hurt. If I do it'll be VERY light though...so that being said, what do you think I should do?)_**


	2. We're here

**Ok, spelling errors my bad. Sorry this is short and uneventful. I didn't want to make too much of them getting to the building. I want all the main events to happen IN the building. **

**Shall we continue on with this?**

Living in the Shadows

(Paranoid Part Two)

Sakura jumped from tree to tree on her way to the city gates. She was nervous and excited all at the same time. She was so glad that she got paired with Sasuke but, that also meant her flaws would show even more. This time she didn't have Naruto around to mess up for her.

When she got there she saw Sasuke already talking to someone. She stopped behind Sasuke. "Am I late?" She asked.

Sasuke ignored her. He and the other man were in a deep conversation. After a while Sasuke did turn around and the man left.

"Kakashi left out some important facts." Sasuke said.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Important facts? Like what?"

Sasuke turned back around and began to walk out of the city gates. He explained as they walked.

"Besides that place being a maze, it supposedly filled with traps, and we don't even know what's in there. So, we could get lost so I suggest you stay close." Sasuke said.

Sakura blushed. _"That won't be a problem."_ She ran up to him and smiled. "If you say so." She said innocently.

He glanced back for a quick moment his face expressionless. "Try…" he paused.

Sakura held her breath. _"What's he going to say?! Try to wait! Try to stay as close as possible?! Try to fall into his strong arms?!" _

"Could you, try not to walk so closely though?"

Sakura's mouth dropped open. "Huh?"

Sasuke stopped and turned around. "If something should attack, we wouldn't be able to defend ourselves because you're so close. We'd end up falling over each other."

Sakura backed up a little staring down at the floor to avoid having to look at him. Her cheeks burned a bright pink matching that of her own hair. "Oh, sorry" she said softly. It hadn't even been two whole minutes yet and she already screwed up.

**Uh, hey there Miss Smooth talker. You're suppose to be _charming_ not a freaking _stalker_. But either way who is he to talk to you like Mr. Know-it-all?**

_"Shut up, I just got too excited; I wouldn't want him to get hurt. He wasn't being Mr. Know-it-all, ok? He was just looking out for us."_

**Whatever you say.**

Sasuke turned back around sliding his hands smoothly into his pockets. He mentally scolded himself. Those weren't the words he had intended to say. In all reality he wanted her that close, maybe even closer. He had intended to say "try and stay as close as you can, I don't want you to get hurt". Maybe not that word for word. But it was what he was thinking. But some how, when he opened his mouth to say the words, they had transformed into something totally different. He just couldn't do it, not now.

They walked in silence for the remainder of the two hours, Sakura trailing behind her eyes still focused on the dirt ground. Sasuke stayed ahead not bothering to look back. He was actually afraid to. Incase he got another idea to say something, he didn't want to risk his words being changed again into something worst then what he had said before.

Just when Sakura's legs were tempted to give way and collapse a speck of building rose up in between a thick screen of trees. The building looked all but welcoming and sent shivers down her back. She even thought for a second that it looked similar to the one before but shook off the thought. The last one crumbled above their heads! How could she have forgotten that?

Sasuke took a deep breath and looked back at Sakura. "You ready?" he asked.

She meant to say yes, to sound brave and determined but instead she slumped down and fell to the floor. Crossing her legs she groaned. "Sasuke, could we rest a bit before we go in?" she asked.

He raised an eyebrow. "The buildings right there Sakura, why rest now?"

She patted her legs. "They hurt." She told him.

He looked at the building and then back at her. "Sakura, its right there." He said annoyed. He was only about a mile or so from his mission. This could be all over with soon if she'd get up. As much as he liked her he wanted to yank her up and tell her to have more endurance. He was dreading this mission for some reason. He felt as if something bad was going to happen and all he wanted to do was get it over with. But as he stared at Sakura who was now messaging her legs it was obvious she wasn't ready to get up and there was no point in trying to convince her to. He sighed.

"Fine, we'll need our strength later anyway. Just, get out of the middle of the road; we wouldn't want anyone to see us."

Sakura looked up. "Who would be spying? You don't think the murderer is still around do you?" She asked suddenly getting up quickly.

Sasuke shrugged. "It's possible but, any one could cause the mission to fail." He walked towards the edge of the road and into the forest making sure the building didn't get lost in the thick of green leaves. Sakura followed.

"We'll wait here till night. It'll be easier to hide should we need to." Sasuke said putting down his bag and sitting down on the trunk of a tree. Sakura sat down beside him though making sure to keep her distance.

They say there in complete, almost awkward, silence before she stole a glance at Sasuke. He had his eyes closed now and looked relaxed but she knew him to well to be fooled. He was fully alert; he could be dead asleep and still be on guard. She sighed inwardly. Sometimes she wished she could take that away. It was good for battling and for situations when he was in danger but, she wished she could take away his stress. And even though he'd never admit that he felt pain, she knew better. After all he was only human. She wanted to free him whatever that meant.

_"Oh, Sasuke. If only you would let me…"_ Sakura thought her eyes locked onto his handsome dark features.

She shook her head lightly, closed her eyes, and fell asleep. Sasuke then allowed himself to slightly open his eyes and peek at her. He had felt her turquoise eyes fixed upon his face. He was tempted to look back, to ask her what she was staring at. He wasn't anything worth staring at. But, he liked the sensation, the feeling knowing that her attention was on him. He closed his eyes again.

Sakura slowly opened her eyes as she felt someone lightly shake her. Her sleep filled vision cleared and she saw Sasuke leaning over her. "What's wrong?" she asked rubbing her eyes and yawning.

He stood up straight. "It's time to go." He said.

She looked at him and then at the sky. It appeared as it had just turned night. She looked back as Sasuke. "Did you, get any sleep at all. Any rest?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I'm fine. We need to go." He picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder.

Sakura lazily got up dusting herself off. She picked up her bag and nodded. "I'm ready." She said yawning.

He eyed her a while. He wasn't too sure if he should waste more time to let her wake up, or send her straight into the mission half way asleep. He decided to go on; she would wake up after the mile walk to the building. He felt as if they had already taken up too much time. He couldn't explain it but, it felt as if someone was watching. Waiting.

They began walking towards the building, the night growing darker and darker with every step and the building growing taller with it until they were only yards in front of it. They walked towards the door and stopped in front of it. Sasuke paused for a moment and ran his hand across the dried blood. Red stains splattered every where on the wall as if someone had purposely dragged the bloody bodies along the wall as some sort of sick game. Sakura frowned but couldn't tear her eyes from the stains. It was proof that whoever did this was wicked in some sort of way. They didn't just kill them…they had _slaughtered_ the poor ninja. Sakura shivered. She didn't want to in all of a sudden. She was afraid. Fear seemed to rush from her thoughts and through her veins.

Sasuke looked at Sakura the sense of danger overwhelming him. He had a feeling this was something more then just a little "look in to" mission. It went a lot deeper. Sasuke simply said to Sakura to stay close. She nodded understanding this wasn't a time to get all embarrassed or panicky. There was a weird feeling floating about in the air. The wind begin to blow harshly as if trying to ward them away, warning them of danger. None-the-less they had a mission to complete so with one last glance at each other they walked through the door.

Meanwhile a pair of dark, bottomless eyes stared at the pink haired ninja and the Uchiha heir. A tiny almost undetectable smirk ran across his face. "Perfect…"

**Like I siad, boring but you'll have to forgive me. All in due time. I've decided...after carful consideration to add light lemon. Later on though. Not now. (But, just cuz i'm stepping outta the box imma start off kinda "amatuer" I guess you would say)**


	3. One after anotherafter another

**Disclaimer- We all know I don't own Naruto, It should be my misfortune that I don't. **

**Alot happens, just to show how much of a challenge this will be for them. It might be short but I got to do the while X-mas day thing so, enjoy. (L is later so. yea.)**

**Shall we begin yet again?**

Living in the Shadows

(Paranoid Part two)

Sasuke's foot step echoed through the building as he took the first step in. The place was dark and damp and a sharp bitter smell of mold swirled around in the air. Sasuke took out a miniature flashlight and waved it around the room. It was really a long hall that led to a flight of steps that led both up and down. Sakura shivered as the night cold rushed into the room one last time before she stepped in closing the door behind her. The only sound was the moan of the wind outside and the sound of dripping water inside. The place was far from inviting.

"So, should we go up first or down?" Sakura asked looking at the steps that Sasuke's light was focused on.

"We go down first, it'll be faster." Sasuke said slowly.

Suddenly they heard a faint sound of pattering, a sound almost like walking. Finding no place to hide Sasuke reached his hand out for the door knob and attempted to twist it but it wouldn't move. He yanked on it again this time harder but it still wouldn't move.

"You closed it all the way?" Sasuke asked trying to control his anger.

Sakura looked at him. "I didn't think it was locked! I mean we opened it!" she said helping him pull.

The sound of the steps came closer and closer. Sasuke took out his kunai shielding Sakura. "Stay behind me." He said his eyes focused on the direction of the steps. "Show yourself!" Sasuke yelled.

Suddenly there was a loud meow and a cat popped up from the steps absolutely terrified. It scowled and hissed at Sasuke for a few moments for interrupting his peace before running up the stairs. Sasuke and Sakura exhaled feeling stupid for making such a big deal over a cat.

"Well, now we know that's not going to be our way out later on." Sasuke said in a bitter tone putting his kunai away and hitting the door with his fist.

Sakura sighed. _"Twice now you've messed up. Great going."_

**Yeah great going genius. **

_Shut up, like you knew better._

**Maybe I did.**

Sasuke began to walk towards the steps. "Are you coming?" he asked as he noticed Sakura still standing there.

She looked up. "Oh, yeah." She ran to catch up.

The two teens looked down at the long, bottomless trail of steps. It seemed to go on forever and ever, as if it never ended. Sakura groaned inwardly. More walking, just great. The two carefully took a step down, and then another. After the first twelve steps they felt safe and continued down casually. Then there was a grinding noise that came from deep inside the steps. Sakura glanced at Sasuke and then the steps as they began to tremble and move.

"Sasuke…" she said nervously.

He looked down at his feet shaking wildly on the step. "What's happening?" he asked.

Suddenly the stairs began to slope down one by one turning into a smooth straight slide, each step moving up and slanting. "RUN!" Sasuke said turning back around

Not having to hear it twice Sakura turned around and began running back up the stairs but it was too quick. The stair slanted beneath their feet and they slid down. Sasuke looked at where they were falling and cursed under his breath as they fell closer and closer to the end. He could see the outline of large spikes waiting for them at the end. He took out a kunai and stabbed it into the stairs. He skidded down for a while before coming to an abrupt stop. He grabbed Sakura as she zoomed down past him screaming. They both looked down at the spikes.

"Sasuke! Please don't let me fall!" Sakura cried watching the spikes light up as Sasuke dropped his flashlight to get better gripping on the kunai.

He glanced down. "I can't hold you forever, we need to find a way out." He said.

Sakura nodded nervously her hands shaking with fear. She pulled out a kunai with her free hand and stabbed it into the slanted steps. She held on to it to help Sasuke with the weight.

"So any bright ideas?" Sasuke asked in a calm voice, which was odd since they were dangling above knives.

Sasuke sighed his mind searching for a way out. He looked around and smiled slightly as he saw a small door on Sakura's right.

"Sakura, look to your right." He said.

She looked over. "It's a door!" she pointed out.

"Yes, it's a door, can you reach it?"

Sakura let go of the kunai for a moment to stretch her hand over. It reached about three feet away from the door knob. "No." she said gripping back onto the knob quickly.

Sasuke ran through his mind searching for another way. "Aright, then you'll have to trust me." He said after a moment.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Cause I'm going to need to throw you over there."

"WHAT!!!!! THROW ME! What if I fall?!"

**I know he hates your guts and all but to throw you is kinda mean if you ask me.**

Sasuke sighed growing impatient. "I can't hold you much longer. I'll throw you directly in front of the door; all you have to do is grab on to the ledge and open it. Sakura we've practiced drills like this with Kakashi."

"But there was always someone at the bottom to catch me. Sasuke you're asking me to let you throw me over a million pointy things!"

"Would you rather sit here and wait till I drop you over a million "pointy things"?"

She huffed out defeated. "If I drop I'll haunt you for the rest of your life." She said.

He nodded. "Ok, just grab the ledge and open it. Are you ready?"

"Yeah."

"One, two..."

"WAIT!! WAIT, WAIT. Give me a second!" Sakura said taking a deep breath.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Sakura, I can't hold you much longer."

"Ok, go head," Sakura said.

"Ok, one, two-"

"WAIT!"

"THREE!"

Sasuke flung her towards the ledge. Sakura reached out, eyes closed and screaming her head off. She kept them squeezed shut for a moment waiting for the sharp pointy things to cut through her like she was butter. She peeked open after a while without pain. She found herself grasping desperately to the ledge.

"Good, now open it." Sasuke said shifting his weight.

She gulped nervously pulling herself up. After banging on the door with the side of her fist the tiny piece of wood fell down a puff of dust rising up. She coughed and climbed in the tiny cramped tunnel. "Aright it's open. How are you going to get in?"

Sasuke took a deep breath; He couldn't believe he was going to do this. "Catch me." He said and let go of the kunai.

Sakura's eyes widened but her instincts never to let Sasuke get hurt kicked in and she reached out her arm grabbing Sasuke. She pulled him up with a struggle but he got in.

"Goodness Sasuke why would you just drop like that?" Sakura scolded.

He shrugged. "I knew you'd catch me. Now, let me in front."

She stared at him for a while before she moved. They struggled to switch places in the small, dark, square tunnel. After a while they achieved their goal. Sasuke though, some how ended up with Sakura's foot print on his cheek. Wiping of the dust he started crawling. Sakura followed close behind. Soon they saw a light in front of them. They arrived at an opening but the bottom was a long drop.

"How are we going to get down?" Sakura asked looking at the dirt floor that was at least a good mile or two down.

"Jutsu." Sasuke said.

"What?"

"Destination Jutsu helps you get place to place, we know where we want to go, what it looks like, and we know where we're at. Just hold on."

Sakura looked at Sasuke unsure but grabbed onto his arm anyway.

"Destination Jutsu!"

Sakura found herself still gripping on to Sasuke but this time, instead of a small tunnel, they were on the ground that she was looking at only moments before. "Hey, I wonder why I didn't think of that." She said.

"Let me see your flashlight." Sasuke said holding out his hand.

She went into her bag and handed it to Sasuke. "Here."

He took it and turned it on, the room lit up and a thousand little doors popped up. They looked around overwhelmed.

"Which one do we take?" Sakura asked looking at all of them. There were some up top, and on the floor, and in corners, some with doors and signs and some that were simply open. There was even one that was oddly decorated with red, purple, and green flowers.

Sasuke went to examine one of the doors. "They could lead anywhere, to different places all to the same place. We just pick one."

Sakura looked around and noticed a door that was isolated from the rest. "How about that one?" Sakura said pointing it out.

Sasuke looked at it. "It looks like its dangerous, like its isolated for a reason."

"Wouldn't that mean that they have a reason for making it dangerous? Maybe it links to some clue that could help us." Sakura suggested.

Sasuke thought about it for a moment. "Fine, but…keep the door open, ok?"

She blushed lightly. "Sorry."

He walked over to the isolated door and pulled it open. He looked inside, it was a little bigger then the one they had just crawled through but still small. He carefully crawled inside, after there was no booby trap he motioned for Sakura to come in and follow. She did making sure to keep the door open.

They crawled and crawled for what seemed like forever, Sakura was about to suggest they turn around and try another door when the floor collapsed underneath them.

"Crap," Sasuke mumbled as they free fell. He reached around for something to grab on to but they were falling too fast. He looked at Sakura who was too afraid to even scream. He pushed himself over to her and grabbed her in a hug being the only thing he could do to at least attempt to protect her.

They continued down for at least thirty minutes before Sasuke saw the ground. There where no spikes or slides. But at the rate they were falling, they would be killed from impact. These were the moments Sasuke wished Naruto and his clones were around.

Thinking quickly he let go of Sakura and took off his bag. He emptied it and let everything fall out before he opened up holding on to the corners. Re-grapping on to Sakura the bag inflated with air and like a parachute they were yanked back to a slow steady pace. The landing on the ground was still rough but luckily, they had slowed down enough to live. Sasuke got up dusting himself off and helped Sakura to her feet.

"You ok?" Sasuke asked watching her dust off her outfit.

Her hair was messed up and she had a crazed terrified look on her face but nodded. "I'm….I'm good." She said trying to pat down her hair with shaking hands.

_"If there are traps like this everywhere I don't know if I'll make it. I'll probably die from fright before I was killed by the actual trap."_ Sakura thought to herself.

Sasuke re-collected the things he had dropped from his bag. He walked over to the flash light. The cover was cracked but it thankfully still worked. He waved it around their new area. There was only one door this time. He walked towards it but stopped when he heard Sakura stomp.

"I'm tired Sasuke. We don't even know what we're looking for! We haven't even been in here for a full day I bet and already almost got stabbed to death, had to do a death leap, pick from a thousand doors, and almost fell to our doom. Can't we get out, maybe you can bring Naruto. I don't think I'm cut out for all these little surprises."

"Sakura's it's not the time to complain how do expect me to get you back out anyway? It's not like I have a rewind button."

She sighed. "So I'm stuck until we either get the mission done or find a way out?"

"You're stuck."

She lowered her head disappointed. "Fine." She said walking towards the door.

Sasuke continued on with her.

They walked for a few moments before the arrived at a dead end with a sign.

**Welcome**

**Complete the test in one piece,**

**And I'll let you through me.**

"Some weirdo game?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke shrugged and reached out to touch it. As soon as he did the place shook. Sakura frowned. "Oh no, not again." She said getting ready to run the other way but Sasuke grabbed her.

"No, it's a door. It's opening." He said watching the wall rise up into the ceiling. A wide open, pitch black space was revealed.

"What is it?" Sakura whispered.

"It looks like…a mini stadium…"

** :-P I absolutly can't wait for the games to begin...**


	4. Earth Shattering

**SURPRISE!!! It's been quite a while! Well lets see... the 1st story (Paranoid) Sakura had been threatened to tell Sasuke to meet Itatchi (obvious trap). She found inner strenghth and said no. Sasuke was kidnapped anyway. Itatchi, being the loving big bro tortured Sasuke so he could try out a new jutsu he had learned, but alas, Sasuke's loyal friends and teacher came to his rescue (but not before bringing down the house on top of them and sending them roaming around in a dark tunnel. P:S Sasuke asked Sakura to "wait" and keep loving him until he was able to love her back.) NOW! Part two: they got sent (Sasuke and Sakura, Naruto has been sent on a diffrent mission) on a mission to explore a maze of tunnnels filled with traps. They've almost slid to their doom, made death leaps, played inny minny miney moe with dozens of doors, almost fell to their doom, and now are trapped, HERE! Enjoy!**

**Oh...and I don't own Naruto :( **

**Shall we?**

* * *

Paranoid: Part Two

(Living in the shadows)

Sasuke took a tentative step forward into the dark arena. He scanned the area puzzled. It was all earth except for a small metal door at the far end. It was a straight shot across. He sighed, this was by far probably the worst trap they'd deal with.

"Is it ok?" Sakura asked stepping into the arena.

Sasuke just kept looking around. "I doubt it." he mumbled, boldly stepping in further. Sakura started to follow but Sasuke held up a hand. "Stay there." he ordered stepping out more.

"But Sasuke!" Sakura said taking one step forward. The door they had came in slammed down behind her. She spun around. "I didn't do it!" she shouted spinning back to Sasuke. But his attention wasn't on her or the shut door. He now stood in the center with a kunai out and ready.

"Is…something wrong?"

Suddenly Sakura felt something hard slam into her from behind. "Sakura! Put your back to the wall!" He commanded.

She took a weary step back but felt a painful blow on her back again. She went flying forward. Sasuke caught her then raised his kunai blocking an attack.

"Welcome to my arena." the attacker said grinning wildly. His black, never ending eyes danced with blood lust. A shock of red hair was flying around freely. He stood a good foot taller than Sasuke. The man backed off.

"I am the one, the only, Blaze. And this is my game. I thought your little other ninja friends left in pure fear, but I see they just sent someone else to do the work." Blaze laughed.

"You…you killed those one ninja." Sakura said light headed. Sasuke helped her steady herself so she could stand on her own feet but his eyes never left Blaze.

"Guilty! They were fun. I actually broke a sweat. He wasn't lying when he said Konoha ninja are pretty--"

"Who's _he_?" Sasuke asked sharply.

Blaze grinned even wider. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Blaze then rushed at them taking a kunai from out of his shirt. Sasuke pushed Sakura out of the way and blocked the attack. Blaze swung again, this time Sasuke blocked the attack then countered sending his kunai flying just over Blaze's head as he ducked. He flipped backward and squatted down like a cat, his eyes fixed on Sasuke.

"Aren't you a fire cracker." he said then he vanished.

"What the--" Sasuke's eyes swept the room looking for Blaze or a possible spot where he might have hid. There was nothing but dirt, dirt walls, dirt floors, and one metal door.

"Earth shattering jutsu, breaking point!"

Sasuke felt the floor beneath begin to rumble. He backed away but with every step the floor rumbled beneath him, he looked around noticing the floor wasn't moving any where else but where he was standing. Quickly he jumped into the air. The floor collapsed in the spot where he had just been standing, it fell into it's self then repaired.

"Good job." Blaze laughed. Sasuke flipped around and saw Blaze in the air with him. "Earth shattering jutsu, target!"

The wall in front of Sasuke let out a loud rumble and a piece came launching out of it. It came at such fast speeds Sasuke didn't have time to react. The chunk of earth slammed into Sasuke's front driving him backwards then smashing his body against the wall. Sasuke slid down to the floor.

"Sasuke! Sasuke are you ok?" Sakura shouted running to him.

"St…stay back." Sasuke yelled getting to his feet. He steadied himself and cleared his head. _You can't let him beat you. Think, think!"_

"Earth Shattering jutsu, target!"

Sasuke rolled out of the way just as a piece of the wall from behind him came shooting out. _He's using the arena as his weapon and using the earth for his attacks….he must be a long range attacker. He probably can't do close combat._

"Earth Shattering jutsu, target!"

Sasuke flipped backward and on top of the flying piece of earth. "Sharingan!" His black eyes turned red, two specks of black appearing around his pupil. Sasuke jumped off just as he got near Blaze who was standing on a floating piece of earth in the very center. Shooting towards Blaze he balled his fist and sent it aiming at his opponent. Blaze's eyes widened as his fist made contact. Blaze went spiraling off his standing ground. Wasting no time Sasuke landed on his feet and went running at Blaze again. He aimed another punch but a block of sand rose up in front of him and blocked his attack. Instantly a picture of Garra flashed through his mind.

"No way." Sasuke said flipping back towards the center. The earth shield crumbled and Blaze appeared grinning. "You had a lucky hit, but that's as close as you'll get from now on."

Sasuke frowned and ran at him again, this time he threw four shurikin, they went flying towards him but were soon stopped, embedding themselves into a wall made of earth that had appeared out of the ground to protect the intended target. "There's just no way…" Sasuke said watching the wall crumbled again. "No one else has Garra's technique." he whispered.

Sakura watched with her back against the metal door. She had ran and tried to open it while Sasuke and Blaze were fighting but it seemed locked from the other side. She had just stood there and watched so far, figuring she was safe with her back against metal. But she felt useless. Here was Sasuke fighting for his…their lives, and she was cowering away in the safest spot watching.

**Come on! You're going to let your man get beat around like this? **Inner Sakura roared as Sasuke went flying across the arena again as a result of another strange earth jutsu. Sakura watched him rise to his feet again grabbing his arm. Another attack came at him, this time pieces of earth sharpened at their points. He dodged them expertly and tried to counter attack but another wall flew up to protect Blaze. Sasuke tried a different way, this time coming from the left, but a piece of earth came flying at him from behind. He dodged it just in time as it skid past his arm cutting into his flesh.

_Even with his Sharingan he's not winning, the attacks are coming too fast and too randomly for him. And that damn shield…_

**He fought Garra before, he should be able to beat him.**

_But he sure had a hell of a time with Garra and they never finished. He could have lost…_

**Be more positive, if you're so worried about him losing how about you help.**

_What good would I do? How about you help?!_

**I am you, I can't help unless you do dumb ass.**

_God, I need to stop talking to myself. You're really a pain…_

Sakura gasped as Sasuke screamed. She saw him bite his lip to stop from screaming again as another rock squished him between one of Blaze's shields. She tried to scream for him as the rock slammed into his stomach so violently that he coughed up blood. The rock sharpened at the point and slammed into him again, driving itself into his side. Sasuke choked out another cry of pain. Sakura could see his eyes turn glassy.

_Oh my God…he's going to die…_

* * *

**Sasuke! I'm so sorry! breaks into tears I'm always putting you in pain!!!! But! It's for the story. U guys like it? Well then let me know sillies! R&R!**


	5. let the flames begin

_Hey hey hey, can n e body tell me what a C2 is? or something like that. But n e wayz! Kinda a slow chapter, u gatta add fluffies! and um...yea, i do make up my own jutsu's because i can't really remember any of the real ones except for like...well three of them. FORGIVE ME! lol. _

_I don't own Naruto :(_

_Shall we?_

* * *

Paranoid: Part Two

(Living in the Shadows)

_Oh my God…he's going to die…_

Sakura hadn't even realized what she was doing until she had Sasuke in her arms. She felt a sharp sting as the pointed rock grazed past her shoulder. They landed, a cloud of dust rising up around them.

"Sasuke! Sasuke!" Sakura said getting off of him and shaking his shoulders. He moaned but didn't open his eyes. "What am I going to do?"

"Sweet, a daring rescue in the knick of time by the Uchiha's delicate pink haired lover. A minor inconvenience that you suddenly have courage." Blaze said watching them from on top of his floating platform. Sakura stood up and took out a kunai blocking Sasuke.

"I won't let you touch him!" she shouted through she was sure her voice didn't sound very convincing. She was scared senseless but she couldn't stand by anymore, she would protect Sasuke, or die trying.

"I suggest you drop your heroism and move girl." Blaze sneered, staring down at her as if she was some pesky fly that had gotten in the way. "I might let you live, perhaps I'll save you as my little toy. I just want the boy."

Memories flashed through her head. She suddenly pictured herself standing in front of Itatchi, his elegance slightly wavered by his anger. She remember boldly refusing to give up Sasuke, she remembered being knocked down like she was worthless. She braced herself even more determined.

"You leave him alone." she hissed, her emerald eyes growing dark, "Your opponent is me."

He scoffed. "Hardly girl, he wasn't even a challenge. Why would you be?"

**Sakura are you trying to get yourself killed?**

_No, I'm trying not to get Sasuke killed. You wanted me to do something._

**Jeez, you take everything so literally. Sasuke got banged up, what makes you think you can do any better?**

_Sasuke walked in blind, he didn't know about his techniques and he had worked a lot before this whole fight. He spent most of the time saving me._

**And…**

_Sasuke was tired. And I have an advantage, I know his techniques now, this can't be Garra's. It's something different. I just have to find out what--_

Sakura was snapped out of her thinking when the ground began to tremble. She remembered Sasuke almost getting caught in the collapsing ground. She ran away from Sasuke so that he wouldn't get caught in the jutsu. She could feel the floor shaking beneath her feet. _JUMP! _She launched herself in the air just as the floor gave way.

"Good." Blaze whispered in her ear from behind. He jammed his kunai into her stomach but the figure of Sakura suddenly let out a blow of smoke and revealed itself to be a clump of earth.

"Transformation?" Blaze muttered. He spun around quickly sensing someone from behind. He vanished just before Sakura's shuriken flew at him.

_He didn't use that wall to protect him, he simply moved. Garra's shields responded immediately to an attack so he didn't even have to budge. That proves it, this is an imitation._

Sakura landed back on her feet and looked around straining her senses to pick up something.

"Earth Shattering Jutsu, target!"

Sakura turned around facing the piece of earth that came rocketing at her. She could faintly see an outline embedded into the earth wall. She jumped out of the way and ran at the outline. Propelling herself up she launched herself at the figure. Blaze appeared out of the wall and dodged her fist that broke into the rock wall.

"That strength…" Blaze said watching her fist dent into the earth wall.

Sakura ran at Blaze again. "No use girl! You can't even touch me!" Blaze laughed. A wall popped up to block her way but she ran around it. Another wall came up but she quickly evaded each one, running straight towards Blaze. Another wall came up and she ran left, disappearing. Suddenly she reappeared behind Blaze sending a swift kick into his back. He grunted and fell forward. He rolled a couple of times before skidding to a stop. Wiping the blood from his chin he stared at the girl before him. She stood there, her chest heaving up and down trying to catch air, her eyes glistening with raw determination.

"You're a fake," she spat out. "Some one told you about the a Sand Village shinobi and you imitated him. But it's nothing, you have to force the walls up while his come up as a natural defense. You're using a jutsu."

Blaze got up and dusted himself off. He clapped his hands and grinned. "Very smart. He told me if I moved fast enough I could beat the Uchiha heir because his sharingan isn't as developed. So he told me of some little brats jutsu that worked pretty well against that boy. Originally I'm a fire user. But you have to adapt to win now don't you?"

**CHA! You got him Sakura! I always knew you could do it! CHA CHA CHA!!!**

_Thanks for the support after I won…but who's he?_

"Don't get cocky and start celebrating yet girl." Blaze said almost as if her had heard inner Sakura. "Since my imitation isn't working on you," he smirked and held up a hand sign that looked too familiar for comfort, "how about I heat things up?"

"Katon! Fire ball jutsu!"

**AH! RUN DAMN IT RUN! I KNEW YOU'D LOSE, I KNEW IT!!!**

Sakura spun on her heel and ran, she flipped out of the way as the fire went flying past her. She felt the heat as the fire sphere's raced past her.

"Those stupid earth jutsu's were using up quite a bit of chakra since I didn't master them 100 but this is much easier. It won't take be long before you get cooked. It's too bad, we could have made an interesting pair."

Sakura rolled out of the way as more fire sped past her, this time scalding her arm. She let out a little cry of pain and grabbed her shoulder. Her sleeve had burned off and she could see her skin burnt. "Damn…" she muttered getting up to dodge another round of fire. She wasn't moving fast enough. The fire burnt her again on her shoulder. She squealed but refused to be any louder. She had to be brave. But she couldn't help but wonder at how quickly she had been put on the defensive again.

Sasuke's eyes slowly fluttered open. It took a while for the blurs to be put into focus but when they were he instantly sat up. Pain stung at his body and he instinctively grabbed his side. He could feel blood slowly leaking out from his wound but it wasn't pouring out anymore. Luckily he hadn't been hurt too bad, but if that last hit would have got to him…

He closed his eyes and shook his head. _Thank God Sakura's here. _he thought. He stood up slowly testing his balance. He pressed his hand on his wound harder to suppress the pain. He could only wonder how his stomach still worked. It kept getting torn up. He still faintly felt the pain in the center of his stomach every now and then from where his older brother had attacked him. That insane power that had ripped into his stomach had left it's permanent mark even though the doctors had been able to prevent any scars.

He saw Blaze smiling as he continued to release fire balls, his attention was fully focused on his amusement with Sakura. Sasuke was positive he didn't even notice that he had woken up. Sakura was just barely avoiding the attacks, he could see parts of skin where the cloth had been burned off, he shuddered at seeing the blackened skin underneath.

_Enough of this, _he thought, _if he want's to play with fire, then he'll get his chance._

"Katon, Fury's flame!" He blew out and a wave of fire went flying towards Blaze. He heard Blaze scream in surprise and pain as the flames engulfed. Moments later he jumped out of the flame patting away the fire on him.

"What the hell!" he shouted glaring at Sasuke.

"Sasuke! You ok?" Sakura asked. She was on her knee's gripping a new burn on her lower neck. Sasuke shook his head. And to think she was still worried about him.

He stood up straighter and nodded, then he focused his attention on Blaze. His eyes shifted blood red. "I figured your little rock tricks were a fake. It's a shame you picked fire though…"

Blaze smirked and tilted his head. "Is that so? They say its better to fight fire with fire."

Sasuke smirked back. Blaze had gotten him once, but this was now his battle field. No way would he lose. "Well then, lets see if it's true."

"Na…Naruto, I don't think you should do that…" Hinata suggested twiddling her fingers.

"Naruto! I agree! That would be unwise! Please refrain from such reckless acts!" Lee said watching Naruto with wide eyes.

"C'mon you guys! Stop being such pus--" Naruto took a step forward and suddenly went flying upward. "Ah!"

"Naruto!" Lee and Hinata shouted in unison. They ran to their team mates aid as he dangled from a tree by a rope. Lee took out a kunai and began cutting through the rope.

"You should be more careful…"Hinata warned quickly.

"Ah, you worry too much Hinata. I'm fine, luckily these are all simple little traps!" Naruto said laughing. Lee finished cutting through the rope and Naruto fell from the tree landing on his head. Hinata blushed and went back to playing with her fingers.

"But Naruto is indeed right, every single one of these traps are simple and childish. They are no challenge for the Green Beast of Konoha though I deeply respect their attempts!" Lee threw one of his hands on his hip and put up his "nice guy" pose before breaking down in dramatic tears. "They try so hard!"

"Ok, ok, lets not cry any rivers."

The three young ninja turned around to see Shikamaru and Ino standing behind them.

"Hey, hey, hey! What are you guys doing here!" Naruto questioned a bit annoyed that they were there.

"We were sent here to help speed along your mission Naruto. We're needed else where. I don't know the specifics yet but we have to get back to the village a.s.a.p. I'm sure it's going to be troublesome…" The Shadow ninja sighed and scratched the back of his head.

"So lets get going!" Ino said enthusiastically.

"We have been trying to go until you showed up." Naruto mumbled.

"It just looked like you were acting stupid to me." Ino countered.

"Oh did it?!"

"Naruto…please." Hinata whispered.

"Troublesome."

"Yea, you dork!"

"Let us get along! We are friends and teammates and must act as such!"

"Say it to my face!"

"I am!"

"HOLD IT!"

The argument came to a sudden stop at Shikamaru's command. They all stared at the boy who stood lazily his eyes hinting at annoyance. "We're never going to get this mission done if we keep arguing and we need to get going. So lets get this run away kid back and leave."

"Run away kid?" Hinata asked.

"Yea, you guys are retrieving some little runt who ditched because he didn't want to train. Didn't you listen to your mission brief?" Ino asked.

"But…but we were told it was a very important ninja on the loose who needed retrieval. Not a child." Lee said.

"The kid is a ninja in training and he is on the loose and he does need retrieval. They must have spiced it up to make it sound interesting. " Shikamaru reasoned. "Now lets hurry, we're needed else where." Ino and Shikamaru took off into the woods.

Naruto and Lee stood for a moment their heads down in disappointment. "I thought we were doing something important…" Naruto sulked. Lee nodded in agreement.

"We are in a way." Hinata offered. They looked at her then back down at the floor.

"Well, maybe whatever they need me back in the village for is more important." Naruto said and vanished into the trees.

"Lee, what do you think they need Naruto for?" Hinata asked.

Lee shrugged and took off behind Naruto. Hinata thought for a moment curious as to why they'd send more ninja to speed up a mission. _For whatever reason they need him, _Hinata thought, _it must be pretty important. _

* * *

_ Sakura helped out but c'mon...like Sasuke was ganna stay down that easily. And I have to put Naruto in, after all...the shows name is NARUTO lol. u guys like it/ hate it, let me know!_


	6. playing with fire

_Sorry 4 the long update, between school and jrotc drill and piano and attempting a social life i've been pretty busy. I've been typing one or two sentences before rushing out the door for the the 8th time in one day lol. I don't own Naruto. I own Blaze though he was inspired. Forgive me for any typo's, mistakes, spelling, etc._

_Shall we?_

* * *

Paranoid: Part Two

(Living in the Shadows)

Sasuke and Blaze stood facing each other waiting for someone to make the first move. Sasuke's eyes slowly turned crimson, his distinct bloodline trait making him look menacing and dangerous. Blaze's eyes sparkled with humor. Sakura dragged herself to the wall gripping her shoulders trying to ease the pain. She watched them nervously as they faced off.

"I'm getting a bit tired of staring at your face!" Blaze yelled. "How about I start the show? Katon, Ryuuka no jutsu!"

Sasuke jumped out of the way as a stream of fire advanced towards him. Landing on his feet he quickly did a series of hand signs. "Katon, Housenka!" A wave of fire shaped as flowers came rushing at Blaze. He ducked not realizing the shuriken hidden inside the flames. Cursing he quickly did a few hand signs and a wall of dirt rose up to his defense.

"That was close…" he sighed.

"Don't get distracted." Sasuke hissed suddenly appearing behind him. He inhaled deeply before letting out a deep breath. Blaze was immediately engulfed in flames. Blaze rolled out of the flames only to be met with Sasuke's foot. He flew backwards skidding to a stop. He rose his arms just in time to block another kick from behind. He quickly spun around and threw a punch that was easily evaded. Blocking another attack he flipped backwards putting distance between Sasuke and himself. He frowned as he stared at the Uchiha sibling. He stood looking into the blood red eyes filled with determination and anger.

"Those damn eyes of yours…" he said, "He warned me it wasn't something to take lightly if things ever got to this point."

"Who's he?" Sasuke snapped narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

"Oh, that's right, I never did tell you now did I?" he shrugged nonchalantly, "It's under strict confidence, I'm afraid I can't tell you no matter how amusing it would be to see your reaction." Blaze placed his hands cockily on his hips and nodded thoughtfully, "But this would be well worth telling. I'll tell you what, " he gave Sasuke a mischievous grin, "I'll tell you who he is if you beat me."

Sasuke smirked. "Deal." He then vanished.

Blaze stood staring into blank area stunned at his speed. "I could have sworn the little brat was injured…" he mumbled annoyed. "He's quite irritating, he heals entirely too fast…"

Hearing Blaze mumble to himself Sakura shook her head. _He's still hurt, _she thought worriedly, _he's just stubborn._

Blaze turned to his right to see kunai headed his way, quickly he summoned up another wall of earth. He spun around and avoided a dangerous punch that hit the wall and made it crumble back to the floor.

_What he lacks in physical speed he makes up for in the speed of his hand signs. _Sasuke thought clutching his stomach and trying to catch his breath. His circulation was rising again due to the adrenaline and physical movement. He felt the thick liquid stain his hand. He knew he had to make this quick or he'd end up dead before Blaze. As long as Blaze was gone Sakura would be safe. He wouldn't have to worry, even if the work was pushing his wounded body to the limit. _Using both fire jutsu's and earth Justus's have to be sucking up his chakra, if I can just wear him down enough to where he slips up on his defense…_

Blaze smiled as he watched the raven haired boy catch his breath. He saw his advantage. Tired of being on the defensive he rushed at the boy ignoring the nagging advice from his boss who had clearly warned him of taking the offensive.

"_His eyes are still highly effective, he's not to be underestimated by you. I would suggest staying on the defensive and waiting for him to make a mistake. He's determined, a mistake would be deadly on your part." _Blaze pushed the words back confident in himself. After all, this was just a washed up, angry, teenage Uchiha heir. He wasn't a ninja up to his standards at all. He quickly made a few hand signs.

"Katon, Fire breathing!"

Sasuke bit his lip as a whirlwind of fire came flying at him. He urged his body to move but found himself stuck. Looking down he saw his feet being held by a circle of earth. Cursing he tried to force his feet out of the trap. He looked up and saw the flame coming closer.

"Sasuke!" Sakura jumped up and rushed to him. Aiming carefully she threw two kunai breaking the earth bounding his feet. He quickly leapt out of the way as the flame flew past him. He felt the sting of the heat as it passed. "Are you ok?" Sakura asked running to his side.

"You both are getting on my nerves, since you care so much about each other how bout I mix your ashes when I'm through! Katon, Fire breathing!"

Sasuke shoved Sakura to the right and dove to the left. The flames split between them. Sasuke frowned as a plan formed in his head. He glanced at Sakura who was facing Blaze, a look of determination on her face. Her delicate skin was already badly burnt and she had a few bruises but she was standing her ground. Sasuke didn't want to risk her getting any more involved but he wasn't doing too much in his current state. Sighing he whistled to catch her attention. She looked over at him.

Quickly he showed her a series of hand signs and pointed at Blaze. She stared looking confused for a moment before nodding. She took a deep breath and positioned herself in the center. Bending her knees she readied herself for her part of the plan that Sasuke had just explained to her with his sign language.

**CHA! Come on Sakura you can do it! He's depending on you!**

_I'm scared…_

**But he's hurt and he's doing just fine! Man up woman!**

Sakura glanced over a Sasuke who let go of his bleeding stomach and readied himself. She saw him slip two kunai out of his side pocket. She knew he had to be running low on weapons. She glared back at Blaze who stood smirking between them.

"So you two done making up useless plans?" he asked. "Two on one's making it more fair for you two. Let's get started!" He ran at Sasuke.

Sakura immediately sent a handful of shuriken flying his way and ran at him herself. She dodged around a wall and jumped at Blaze. Distracted Blaze's attention went to Sakura. He dodged a punch and jumped over her sweep kick. Annoyed he kicked her and she went crashing into the wall. In the two seconds he was distracted Sasuke had disappeared. Scanning the arena he didn't notice Sakura get back up. She sent a punch flying at him. It hit him square in the face. Shocked and in pain he did a back flip.

"Katon, fire breathing!" a swirl of fire engulfed Sakura. "She's got one hell of a punch." he said rubbing his cheek. He spun and saw Sasuke for only a moment, the image of the black haired ninja was quickly replaced with an image of a pink haired ninja. "What the…" he was sent reeling backwards as another punch drove into his stomach. Landing harshly against the wall he doubled over.

"Katon, Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

Blaze's eyes widened as a huge ball of fire neared him. He cursed as it hit. Sakura and Sasuke watched the sphere his it's target point blank. They heard the sickening scream. Still on guard Sasuke waited as the smoke cleared. Blaze leaned against the wall his body charred and out of his shoulder was one kunai and the other one sticking into his chest. His eyes were wide in pain and surprise. "You…you beat me." he whispered. His voice came out cracked.

"It wasn't that hard." Sasuke said walking towards him. "You were using up a lot of chakra for both defense and offense. That takes a lot of concentration and speed. A mistake can be deadly on your part."

Blaze laughed at the irony. _"He's determined, a mistake would be deadly on your part." _"I should have listened." he mumbled to himself.

Sasuke grabbed his stomach but didn't show the pain in his expression. "Now," he said squatting down. "tell me who this mysterious he is."

Blaze coughed and shrugged. "A deal is a deal. It's actually quite obvious, I'm surprised you didn't pick up on it yourself. You both know him."

"Who is it! We obviously don't know him!" Sakura shouted annoyed.

Blaze grinned. "Why Sasuke, you should know your own big brother by now. Uchiha…Itatchi."

Naruto shoved the kid who had been kicking and screaming for at least a good hour forward. "Here's the runt." he mumbled as the mother grabbed the child in a bear hug.

"Oh my darling, my darling!" she yelled in between sobs. The child mumbled some colorful words before trying to push himself out of the woman's grasp.

"It's almost like the cat missions we were always put on…" Naruto said watching the boy struggle.

"Mission complete!" the man behind the desk shouted.

Naruto grinned. "Iruka sensei! How are ya'?"

Two other ninja escorted the child and woman out of the room and suddenly an air of tension fell over them.

"You said we had some important mission to go on." Shikamaru said sticking his hands into his pockets.

Iruka cleared his throat. "Well yes, normally this would be a three man squad with a jounin in the lead but seeing as how everyone's busy now-a-days we have no option but to send you guys and just make the team a five man squad."

"We accept!" Lee and Naruto shouted in unison.

Ino scowled at them. "We haven't even heard what the mission is yet, and I don't think you could deny it if you wanted to."

Iruka nodded. "I doubt they would have in the first place. We sent two ninja on an investigative mission in a labyrinth building. It was the site where we found the matching blood of the murdered ninja outside our village."

"Sasuke and Sakura." Hinata said quietly.

"Yes, it's been too long. Despite it being a maze we only sent them to investigate. If the building went too deep in they should have had common sense enough to come back. We're worried they might have walked into some trouble on the way."

"So is this an assistance mission?" Ino asked.

"No," Shikamaru said coolly. "This is a rescue mission…"

* * *

_U like it? I figured it wasn't right to keep making up my own jutsu's so i researched it. Some are in english and some are in their ariginal japanese language cause i thought they were special enough to stay that way (and i didn't know how to translate it :P) Well yea, there you go. not too much to say...oh wait! What is C2ing?_


	7. A Dark Roses Trance

Paranoid: Part Two

(Living in the Shadows)

Sasuke felt the room spin. He suddenly felt sick to his stomach as the name ran through his head. He backed away from the now lifeless charred body and walked toward the metal door hardly noticing Sakura following stiffly behind him. He sucked in a deep breath and felt pain. He wasn't too sure if it was from the wound or just the shock. He looked at Sakura and froze suddenly feeling even worst. His heart dropped. Her emerald eyes had always been like glass. Revealing herself to him so easily. But what he saw made him want to drop dead. He saw her look at him like this once a few months back when he had appeared at her window a few minutes after Naruto.

She was terrified. She was scared of getting hurt, of Itatchi, of him. She was staring into his deep onyx eyes. His long black bangs that almost looked blue, his creamy skin, his taut, muscular body was like _him_. He cursed himself. Even though he was shorter and younger he could easily be passed off as Itatchi. It pained him to see her piecing them together so easily. Her eyes so easily comparing them and making him and his damned brother one. The intense fear in her beautiful green eyes aimed at him tore him apart. He wanted nothing more then to grab her by her shoulders and shake her. Scream at the top of his lungs how she had no reason to fear him, how he wasn't him, how he was different, different, different….

Suppressing his emotions he tore his eyes from her and lightly pushed on the door. The metal door groaned and swung open. A gust of stale warm air rushed to greet them followed by a sickening odor. Sasuke felt his bloodlust and anger erupt inside him, their cravings whispering dark wants into his ear. _You're so close now, as soon as his lifeless body is spilling blood at your feet you can have whatever you want…_ Unconsciously Sasuke's eyes drifted to Sakura who was visibly shaking next to him. _Whatever you want, you're so close…._

Grabbing Sakura by the wrist he stepped into the dark hall that seemed to keep going on and on. He felt Sakura resist at first but then hesitantly follow. He carefully walked forward wary of any possible traps. Anticipation seemed to be closing around him. The bitter taste of vengeance was lingering on the tip of his tongue. _So close…_

Sakura allowed Sasuke to tow her along. She was terrified. She didn't know what had came over her but suddenly she had watched Sasuke transform into Itatchi before her eyes. Her sight was back to normal and it was her Sasuke grabbing on her wrist now but before…it was clear. Too clear. She shivered at the thought. Something was terrible wrong.

**You're freezing up. And you were doing so well. Pansy**

_Sorry, hearing that the guy who beat the crap out of me might be in the same building tends to make me nervous._

**Now lets not get smart-assed here.**

_I'm terrified._

**Sasuke's here.**

_He can still hurt me…_

**Well with you freezing up and acting like a baby I can think of another person who's going to get hurt EVEN MORE. You're like a damn bad luck charm.**

_No, I'm just weak._

**Well how about dropping the habit and stepping up.**

_How about you just drop dead and shut up._

Even as Sakura argued with herself though she felt a new resolve. It always took seeing a friend get hurt or almost killed before she stepped up. This time she wouldn't wait till Sasuke was down to his last breath. If she had to she'd step up right away. Whether she was facing Itatchi or Satan himself. She was sure she wouldn't be able to do much but she'd do something. Anything.

Sasuke felt Sakura suddenly begin to walk by herself. He was no longer dragging her through the hall. He felt a strange electric charge fill around him and turned to see Sakura smiling at him. "Sakura?"

She shrugged. "I'm not afraid anymore." she said simply continuing to walk.

He gave her smirk and continued walking too. They walked forever through the hall. Both the Konoha ninja were feeling nostalgia as they kept walking. It felt like they were repeating their walk through the tunnel. Except there was no cheerful Naruto to light up everything with his idiocy, no Ino with lustful appraising blue eyes, and no Kakashi with his laid back aura that they were sure he would have kept if they were walking through a tunnel of fire. It was just them.

Sasuke was snapped out of his thoughts as he saw a blinding light ahead of them. His caution had wavered but now he was on full alert again. Sakura stayed inches behind him as they neared the light. They squinted as they got close enough. The light was coming from a room on the other side of the opening. Sasuke took the first step into the opening and the light seemed to dim. The irony almost knocked Sakura off her feet.

They walked out of the dark stale hall into a beautiful garden in full bloom. Roses were growing every where, their colors and thorns making them look dangerously beautiful. Sasuke was sure they were underground but yet the air was fresh and clean. He took a deep breath savoring the feeling. The garden went on forever in all directions.

"Where are we?" Sakura asked stepping out further. Sasuke pulled her back. "It might look beautiful but we're not safe yet." he reminding her taking the lead again.

She looked around at the rose garden inhaling deeply. It was hard to believe such a place was harboring evil but Sasuke was right. They weren't out of the danger zone yet. Now that the gardens trance was wearing off she felt something dark lingering beyond the flowers. She tensed as the thorns of the roses suddenly became a lot more clearer than the actual flower.

"Bad omen." she whispered.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"Hm? Oh, nothing."

He stared at her for a moment but kept walking. She followed behind him watching how agile and elegant he moved through the rows of colorful petals. He looked inhuman. She felt her caution slipping, and she sensed Sasuke relaxing the deeper they got into the garden. They weren't trying to, but it seemed useless to fight it. There was something magical about this place. The thorns suddenly became unnoticeable again. They walked in silence for the next half hour. Sakura was enjoying herself by now. The aroma and cleanliness of the air mingled in her lungs and she felt light headed.

"Sasuke," she said her voice sounding unusually light.

He turned around and she smiled. His eyes seemed liquid and lit up. His body posture was now completely relaxed. She couldn't see or sense any tension. His calmness magnified his beauty all the more.

"I'm tired." she said.

He looked around and thought for a moment before nodding. "Aright, there's a clearing ahead. We could rest there for a moment."

They walked a little further to the clearing of grass ahead of them. Sakura had a fleeting thought that it was a little convenient for a clear area of soft grass to appear out of no where when there had been nothing but roses right when she complained of being tired but the thought was shoved to the back of her mind quickly. Sakura collapsed onto the grass and Sasuke sat down beside her. She felt like she should be remembering something but it was being suppressed. Like something was fighting it and trying to keep it from coming up. She saw Sasuke's face tense for a few seconds to as if he was fighting the same thing. But as soon as she looked away to the roses she relaxed again. She laid down in the grass inhaling the scent.

"It's so beautiful." she whispered dreamily.

Sasuke sighed and laid down next to her apparently giving up on his fight too. "We'll rest for only a little bit." he said, his voice low.

She smiled and turned toward him, her green eyes sparkling. "Sasuke," she said. "You want to know something?"

He slightly turned his head towards her but kept looking above them at the white light. "Tell me."

She moved herself closer to him and put her arm around his chest. "I love you." she whispered in his ear.

He smirked. "I know." he said.

"And you still want me to wait right?"

His eyes turned to meet hers. "For what?" he asked his voice a bit teasing.

She laughed. "I remember. I hold it in my heart. As soon as you reach your goal you can love me. And I'll wait. I'll wait forever and ever and ever." she smiled feeling as if she were on cloud nine.

Sasuke smirked again. Something was tugging at the back of his mind but never before had he felt so free. He was flying and was savoring the moment. He only had felt like this twice, before the Uchiha Tragedy and now. He was sure that if he let whatever was tugging at his mind pass that it would ruin this feeling. And it was so addictive that he didn't want that to happen. He wasn't so sure he'd be able to handle being pulled down from his high. His hand wrapped around the soft hand that was resting on his chest. He was expecting her to go into a spasm and act like a fanatic groupie but she didn't. She simply smiled and moved closer so that there was no space between them. She was at ease with him. His eyes were staring into her very being. Never had she seen him like this. This was forbidden, this was him with all his guards shed, him with his vengeance stripped from his mind. What he would have been if life hadn't been so cruel. She relished in the feeling of being able to experience this.

He smiled, not a smirk, he smiled at her, his eyes bright and alive. "Just wait for me." he whispered his lips tickling her ear. She closed her eyes as he rolled them both to their sides, his smooth body pressed against her soft one. His hands ran down her curves and a strange urge ran over him. He leaned in and kissed her. She kept her eyes shut but just about drowned in the taste of his lips.

In the distance two dark eyes watched with satisfaction.

"Sir, it's working just as you said."

"Of course…now we wait."

Naruto followed Shikamaru who had been made the team leader. A strange dark feeling fell over him like a shadow. Even though he'd never admit it out loud Sasuke was able to protect himself and Sakura but something felt especially wrong. As if some foul play was going on. He gritted his teeth and tried to calm himself down as the feeling grew. He picked up his pace. Wasn't it only a few months ago that he was rushing against this same feeling to save his friend? "History has a way of repeating itself one way or another." he thought bitterly.

Hinata watched Naruto closely seeing him notably tense. She could see why though. There was something dark in the atmosphere. She wasn't exactly close to Sakura or Sasuke but they were teammates, fellow ninja, and friends. She felt she had an obligation to their safety. She saw Lee right behind Naruto also picking up pace, his big eyes ablaze with determination. Shikamaru appeared cool for the most part but she picked up the slight worry in his eyes. Ino was the only one oblivious to the veil of anxiety. As a matter of fact she was complaining about their pace.

"The labyrinth isn't that far! We don't need to be going this fast! We'll get there in plenty of time!" she began falling behind.

"Ino," Hinata said slowing only slightly. She didn't want to be left behind. "They could be in danger. We need to hurry."

"But Sasuke is there!" she said smiling. "They're fine."

Shikamaru stopped abruptly and turned around. "Stop the complaining Ino." he snapped. "Something is wrong." his voice was low and dark. "We don't have time."

Lee nodded and took off after Naruto who hadn't bothered to stop. Shikamaru turned and followed. Hinata turned to look at Ino who had turned red with embarrassment and anger. She was sulking. Not sure what to say Hinata turned and followed after the rest of the team. It took a few minutes after Hinata had caught up before Ino did.


	8. Rescuing Sanity

_HEY!! I know, it got a lil romance-y but the original Paranoid was a romance lol, there's only a lil more though and thats all. Bare with me lol. Oh...jeez I hate to seem...uh whats the word?, pushy or annyoing but comments and reviews would be nice. It lets me know if i'm doing awsomly great or horridly terrible. Please? lol but for real_

_Shall we?_

* * *

Paranoid: Part Two

(Living in the Shadow)

Shikamaru pushed his weight on the door. It slowly grinded open making a sharp screeching noise. He peered in side before motioning for everyone else to follow.

"Whoa, it's a little dark and stinky in here isn't it?" Naruto said plugging his nose. Shikamaru ignored him and looked around. He saw stairs leading up and a long ramp that ran all the way down into nothing.

"Weird." Ino said staring down the ramp into the darkness. Lee flashed his flashlight down and gasped.

"Pointy."

Shikamaru nodded. "The first trap, they must have set it off when they were walking. I'm guessing it was stairs at some point."

"You…you don't suppose they're down there?" Hinata asked nervously playing with her fingers and staring down at the pit.

Shikamaru shook his head. "Nah, they wouldn't be ninja if they died by such an easy trap." he gave a humorless laugh before shaking his head. "Regardless that's where they are and that's where we're going."

"Wh…WHAT?!" Naruto yelled his eyes bulging out. "I'm not going down there!"

"Yes, you are if you want to find your teammates. There has to be some type of door or something somewhere along the way. We'll just slide down until we find it."

"That's easy for you to say." Ino muttered staring down at the sharp points.

Shikamaru took out two kunai sighing. He stuck one into the ramp and carefully lowered himself over. He stuck the other one in and held on. "Simple, rather than hiking our way up the ramp, we're hiking _down_." He took out the first kunai and stuck it in a little lower than the second one and repeated again with the second kunai. Naruto grinned and spun two kunai around his forefingers.

"Aright! Here I come!" He said.

"WAIT!" Shikamaru yelled.

"Ah? What?"

"Don't lower yourself directly above anyone. Should you lose your grip and start sliding we don't want anyone to take any guests with them. We'll go in a diagonal slant. Wait till I lower my self a little than you go Naruto a little to my right, wait for him to lower himself and you go Lee, than so on. That way no one will fall on each other but if one of you slide than someone will be there to catch you."

"What about you Shikamaru?" Hinata asked. "No one can catch you if you fall."

He shrugged re-adjusting his grip. "Lets just hope I don't fall." He murmured lowering himself even more.

"I'm going LAST!" Ino shouted.

**Hey, something's wrong.**

_What could be wrong?_

**C'mon you dope, you're in a maze tunnel, suddenly a garden of roses pop up, and now you're rolling around in soft grass sucking face with Uchiha? Lets be realistic here. **

_Fun sucker._

**Face sucker.**

Despite her lust something did feel wrong. That dark feeling that kept being pushed out was now forcing itself into her mind refusing to be ignored. She honestly didn't care and kept fighting the feeling but it was persistent. She moved to free herself from Sasuke's lips. He just moved down to her neck. She bit her lip and felt her fingers tangle in his hair.

**C'mon now! This may really be a once in a lifetime thing if you don't get up! You'll be dead!**

_Dead?_

"Sasuke."

He stopped kissing her neck but kept his face buried into the hollow of her neck. "Something's wrong." he murmured. It wasn't a question. It was a statement. "How could I be so weak?"

It suddenly snapped into her mind. "Gin-jutsu." He stayed silent. She continued on, the thought rushing into her mind. "A strong one. The jutsu isn't only tapping into our senses but into our feelings too, even…even the one's that are hidden." He still stayed silent but she felt him shift his weight so that he wasn't crushing her beneath him. "You weren't weak Sasuke," she whispered suddenly very aware of a pair of eyes somewhere close. The flowers suddenly seemed less attractive. They looked dead and fake to her now. "A normal person can't create a jutsu that forces your emotions out. Only someone with exceptional skill…only--"

Sasuke cut off her words. "Itatchi." he hissed.

She flinched at his tone of voice. Venom seemed to drip from the name and she could feel pure anger radiating off of him. She panicked and suddenly felt fear. The darkness that seemed to be pouring out of her beloved Sasuke wrapped around her and seemed to squeeze at her heart. He buried himself deeper into the hollow of her neck and she felt cold. She saw his shoulders heaving up and down. At first she thought he was crying until she heard a muffled laugh.

"Sas…Sasuke?" she whispered.

He rolled off of her and onto his back laying in the now wilted grass. His fingers tore at the grass as he continued laughing hysterically with his eyes squeezed shut. She leaned over him trying to hold back tears.

"Sasuke? Sasuke what's wrong? Sasuke!" She grabbed his shoulders and shook him. Never had she seen Sasuke act like this, he was always in control, _always_. Suddenly his arms shot up and grabbed her shoulders forcing her to stop shaking him. His grip was deadly and she yelped in pain. His eyes suddenly opened and she gasped. On instinct she tried to tear away from him fear chocking her scream. Blood red eyes stared at her with a dangerous bloodlust. She had seen the Sharingun before but this was different, this was corrupted with vengeance and madness. She saw his sanity and hatred battling with each other in his eyes.

"Sasuke! What's wrong with you!" She cried out fighting against his grip.

Sasuke laughed again tears forming at the corners of his eyes. He didn't know what was wrong with him. The pain searing in his body and soul seemed to be tearing him from sanity. Why? Everything he had was always stripped from him. He was on top of the world only to be ripped down into hell. He should have known this was a dream, a nightmare.

"_How cruel big brother!" _he thought, _"Now you're playing with my damn emotions? You sneaky, evil bastard. Showing me what I wanted knowing I'd be torn away from it. Clever."_

He suddenly became faintly aware of Sakura screaming in his hold. He stopped laughing as he looked at her, seemingly seeing her clearly now. Her green eyes were wide with confusion and fear. _"Maybe I have given her a reason to be afraid of me…" _Her shrill voice screaming his name ripped at his heart. _"She's fucking terrified."_

He relaxed his grip on her shoulders suddenly snapping back to reality. Going insane wasn't going to help him or her at this moment. He was aware of dead grass poking into his body. He saw withered flowers falling around them. The symbolism was killing him. Everything beautiful in his life had withered away and died. He knew Itatchi was the poison, but now he was beginning to wonder if he himself was the poison too.

"Sakura," he whispered suddenly feeling very tired. "We have to get out of here. He's close."

She stared at him blankly. "Sasuke, are you ok?" he voice was breaking. She was worried but scared. He noticed how she pulled away from his grip and distanced herself.

"I have to get you out, and find Itatchi…"

"This is taking forever!" Ino shouted down to everyone.

"Better safe than sorry…" Shikamaru said. He sighed. _"Woman are so troublesome, always complaining…."_

"She's right!" Naruto said lowering himself a little more.

Lee gripped his kunai and took a deep breath. "Friends! Let us not complain but rather celebrate our spring time of youth! Our bravery and beauty allows us to do daring things! We are hero's lowering themselves to our friends salvation!!"

Hinata shifted her wait as her fingers became slippery from the constant nervous sweat. She had forced herself over but the closer she got to the points the more nervous she got. She swallowed. As long as there were no sudden surprise's she'd be fine.

"AH!!! I'm falling!" Ino laughed letting go of the kunai for a split second.

Hinata's eyes grew wide thinking she had to catch Ino. She reached out thinking Ino would keep falling. Her already unstable grip loosened and she felt herself begin to fly downward. She couldn't hear herself scream though she sure she was.

"Shit! Catch her!" Shikamaru yelled. Naruto and Lee reached out but she slid down to fast. Shikamaru reached out and grabbed her. The speed at which she was going yanked him down and his hand slipped from the kunai.

"Shadow Clone jutsu!"

Naruto free fell for only a moment before his clone grabbed him with one hand and gripped the kunai. Naruto reached out and grabbed Shikamaru. They stopped instantly. Shikamaru sighed as a bead of sweat fell making a loud echo as it hit the points below them. He looked down at Hinata who was gripping onto his hand with both of hers. He felt her shaking as she cried soaking his hand.

"Hey Hinata, could you stop wetting my hand? You're going to make my hand slippery." he said laughing lightly. "It's aright, we're all fine."

"Naruto! Shikamaru! Hinata! Are you guys ok?" Lee shouted down quickly lowering himself.

"Yea!" The Naruto's shouted in unison grunting under all the weight.

"Jeez, you guys almost fell to your deaths!" Ino shouted.

"If you hadn't been playing around Hinata wouldn't have freaked!" the original Naruto shouted tightening his grip on Shikamaru's arm.

Ino scowled. "It's not my fault she's a ticking nerve bomb."

Shikamaru looked around and smirked. "Whatever the case I think I found our door." he said looking at the opening to his right. It wasn't anymore than a foot or so away. "Hinata! I'm going to pull you up and I want you to climb into this little opening for me, ok?"

She was still shaking but nodded. With one quick yank he pulled her weight up and lifted her in front of the opening. "Hurry," he said straining his voice as his muscles worked.

She quickly climbed into the opening.

"What do you see?" Lee said now leveled with them. Ino was now on her way down.

"It keeps going." she said her voice a little broken.

"Good, Lee, do you think you could squeeze in front of Hinata just incase there are anymore surprises?" Shikamaru asked. Naruto cleared his throat.

"Look, my clone's can't hold us forever." Naruto pointed out seeing his copy straining to hold them all up with one hand. He almost laughed seeing the twin face turn bright red. He wondered if he really looked like that under a lot of physical pressure.

"Certainly!" Lee said. He swung himself and leaped into the air. His hands clenched onto the edge and he easily pulled himself in. He managed to squeeze in front of Hinata. "Lets go!"

Shikamaru pulled himself in. "Naruto make sure Ino comes in first." He called back. "We have to keep the girls safe."

Ino frowned as she finally leveled with the doorway. "You do not! Women are capable of protecting them selves sexiest!"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Troublesome. As a male it's my duty to protect you two." he turned around dropping the subject with that.

"Get in." Naruto ordered Ino getting slightly annoyed of dangling above a pit of knives.

She glared at him but obeyed swinging herself into the opening. Naruto's clone swung him inside and vanished. "Now that wasn't so hard."

"Shall I continue forward?" Lee called back.

"Yea, be careful though Lee." Shikamaru said grunting as Ino pushed at him.

"C'mon it's getting a little cramped in here." she groaned.

They crawled forward for a while before Lee stopped suddenly. "Wow, that's a drop." he said staring down at another opening that led to a room filled with mini doors. "I don't know any ninjutsu so how do I get down there?" he complained.

"Hinata, did you bring the supplies?" Shikamaru asked looking at the bag on her back.

"Yes, I think there's a rope in there." she twisted her body and reached for her bag. "I can't get it though, its too small in here…."

Shikamaru reached forward and squeezed his hand in between the small space of the bag and the tunnel's ceiling. He reached in the pulled the rope out, he handed it up to Hinata who passed it up to Lee. Lee tied a Kunia on to it and stuck it deeply into the ground. He yanked on it to make sure it would hold.

"Hopefully this works." he said as he lowered himself over. The kunai drug through the ground for a moment under his weight before stopping. Lee sighed in relief. "It should hold!" he yelled lowering himself. He got to the end of the rope and free fell the remaining five or six feet. Everyone else followed.

"So…which door do we pick?" Naruto asked staring at the many choices surrounding them.

"We have no way to tell which one they chose." Lee said getting dizzy from the different designs and patterns.

"INO-MEANO-GO!" Ino shouted picking a random door.

Shikamaru stood in deep thought for a moment before speaking. "My theory is these doors all lead to the same place one way or another."

"Than why did they put so many doors?" Hinata asked.

"To throw us off. Who would use up this much space for separate rooms? I'm guessing they all hold unique traps but essentially lead to the same place."

"Which is where Sasuke and Sakura are…"Naruto said softly.

"What if they really do have a whole bunch of rooms?" Ino asked.

Shikamaru shrugged. "Then lets hope we pick the right door."

* * *

HEY! Did you like it? I hope you did! But anywayz! You know what to do, R&R...oh yea, what is a C2? Can anyone tell me? O.o 


	9. Cracking point

_Sorry about the late update. On a good note male mix unarmed platoon made it to State! Yea...thats a good thing 4 me lol. This one's mostly filler. But enjoy n e way lol. _

_Shall We?_

* * *

Living in the Shadows

(Paranoid Part Two)

Ino coughed and sent a cloud of dust rising into the air. Hinata coughed inhaling the dust now swirling around her head.

"Hey, could you not spread your germs everywhere?" Naruto said patting Hinata on the back. She shuddered and blushed.

"Th…thank you Naruto." She said quickly.

"Ah, I just coughed. You're just mad." Ino retorted.

"Mad!" Naruto scoffed. "Maybe you're right. This damn tunnel you picked is leading us no where. We've been crawling forever and there's nothing. I say we turn around and pick another one. Preferably one we can _walk_ through." 

"Calm down you guys. We'll turn around if we don't get some where in the next-" Shikamaru cut his sentence short.

"Hey, is it just me or is the ground moving?" Lee asked looking down at the trembling floor.

"Damn…"Shikamaru muttered looking down at the ground himself. 

"Damn what?" Naruto asked watching his hand tremble on the ground.

"I think we just fell into a trap." He replied nonchalantly. 

Lee who had been leading began crawling quickly and the team followed. The more they crawled the more the ground shook. 

"Oh my freaking G---!" Ino shouted as the ground cracked under her.

Hinata screamed and the floor gave way beneath her and she fell through. "Hinata!" Naruto shouted moving forward. The ground caved under him and he fell.

"Move!" Shikamaru shouted and the ground started cracking under him and Ino. With surprising speed Lee began crawling with Shikamaru and Ino following. With each move forward the ground beneath them became more unstable. 

"Ah! Ah! Ah! We're dead, we're so dead!" Ino whined working to keep up as the ground behind her caved. 

"Crawl faster Ino!" Shikamaru ordered. 

The ground cracked under her knees and she felt herself falling. "AH!"

Shikamaru grabbed her hand before she fell through and yanked her up. "Hurry up!" he said placing her back on her hands and knees. Wasting no time they kept crawling.

"There's something ahead!" Lee shouted. 

"What is it?" Shikamaru asked watching as the falling ground sped up. He cursed mentally. There was no way they would last any more than a few more seconds trying to out run the cave in.

"I don't know…it looks like a fall!" Lee shouted nearing the drop.

"Keep going!"

"What!" 

"Jump!"

Lee suddenly disappeared. 

"Ready Ino?"

"Hell no!"

"Too bad!" Shikamaru grabbed her wrist and they suddenly went falling off the edge just as the floor beneath them caved.

"Where are we?" Naruto asked turning on the flashlight Hinata had in her bag.

"I don't know." Hinata asked looking around.

Naruto turned to her. "Are you ok?" he asked dusting her off. 

She nodded. "Just a little sore." 

He nodded. He had just managed to summon some clones for them to safely land on but landing on a whole bunch of clones that poofed away on impact didn't help too much. Though it was better than landing on straight hard packed dirt. 

He covered his nose as a stale smell drifted towards him. Flashing the light upward he saw the hole they had fallen through. "Whew…what a drop." He said whistling. He flashed the light to the right and saw a metal door a few feet away. "Stay here." He said.

She nodded and waited as he ran to the door and pushed on it. "Damn it's locked." He said walking back towards Hinata 

"I guess we walk the other way…." Hinata said staring down the long dark hall. 

Naruto shrugged. "Stay close. I don't want to fall into anymore traps…like literally." 

Hinata fell into step behind him. They walked in silence for a while before Naruto groaned. "Oh my goodness! How long is this? What is up with us and tunnels?" 

Hinata shrugged. She had heard of Team Kakashi's last adventure when Sakura had been threatened and Sasuke kidnapped. She was relieved that Sasuke was ok but she was even more relieved that it hadn't been Naruto himself who was kidnapped. 

"So, what's been up with you?" Naruto asked putting his hands casually behind his head and slowing down his steps to walk next to Hinata. She looked down and played with her fingers nervously.

"Nothing much…."she whispered.

"Eh? What was that?"

"N…Nothing." She repeated a little louder.

He nodded. "You should really speak up Hinata. You're so quiet. You don't have to be so darn shy around me. I'm sure if you spoke up everyone would know what a great ninja you are."

She looked at him shocked. "You think I'm a great ninja?" she asked.

He nodded. "Of course. I mean I was probably screaming my head off when we fell. You're really brave when you want to be."

She blushed and smiled. _If only you knew where I get my inspiration._

They walked another twenty minutes in silence before it was interrupted with a loud growl.

"Wh…what was that?" Hinata asked instantly on guard. 

Naruto braced himself and shrugged. "I don't know."

Hinata looked forward and concentrated. "Byakugun." The veins around her pale eyes became visible as her bloodline trait was activated. 

The growl came again. "Uh…oh, oops." Naruto said grinning and scratching the back of his head. "Sorry, sorry. That's me. I didn't realize how hungry I was." He said.

Hinata sighed but kept staring ahead.

"Hinata? Hey, it was just my stomach." He said grabbing his abdomen. 

"There's something ahead though. A light and I can't see past it for some reason." She said quietly. "It's only a few more meters away." 

Naruto nodded. "Finally!" 

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" 

Lee, Shikamaru, and Ino landed in water making a large splash on their way in. Shikamaru kicked his legs pulling himself and Ino above water. "Lee? Lee?" Shikamaru asked letting go of Ino.

"Over here! I'm ok." Lee shouted back. He swam over towards them and they treaded the water in silence looking around.

"I guess we got lucky." Lee said finally. "We could have landed on a floor instead of thick putrid smelling water."

It was only until Lee mentioned the foul sent and the sickening texture that the other two noticed. Ino gagged and Shikamaru had to suppress the urge to gag himself. "A wild guess would tell me we're in a sewer." He said flatly. 

Ino looked up and frowned. "What have I ever done to deserve this?"

"Well…there was this one time you---"Lee shut up as he saw Ino's blue eyes send a threatening glare in his direction. "I have no clue."

"We need to find some land or something to float on. Something..." Shikamaru said. "Jeez, this mission has become more troublesome than I thought."

They looked around again. "I can't see anything too much." 

"Well…" Shikamaru lifted a finger. "No wind…" he looked down at the water. "The ripples are going forward. We can either go towards the source of the water or see if there's an end. Either way we're relying on luck."

"You know we seem to be doing that a lot." Ino pointed out.

"There's not too much you can do but react when you're thrown into a labyrinth building." He said nonchalantly. He suddenly drew in a deep breath and plunged underneath the water. Three minutes later he resurfaced sputtering and flinging dirty water off his hair and everywhere else. 

"Hey, enough with the hair flipping. "Ino said shielding her eyes.

"Yes, please." Lee said backing up. 

"Sorry. The water's not too deep, at the most its eight feet. I say we follow the ripples and see if there's an end." 

Lee nodded. "Our youth shall provide all the luck we need! The green beast of Konoha is always blessed with luck!"

"Well the green beast can start swimming now." Ino muttered.

"I say we swim under water and hold out breaths for five whole minutes while doing a hundred kicks every ten! Who agrees!" Lee said enthusiastically.

"How about we conserve our energy just in case?" Shikamaru suggested. "Long strokes, slow kicks. Conserving energy is more important than speed. "

"Yea, well let's get going." Ino said kicking her legs.

Shikamaru followed as did Lee with a cloud of disappointment over him. 

_Where am I? Why is it so dark? What happened? Where---no….no…STOP IT! STOP IT!_

* * *

_like it? Well let me know! Laterz u guyz._


	10. Playing with ice

_Shall We?_

Living in the Shadows

(Paranoid: Part Two)

Sakura felt her breathing grow heavier as something flew by behind her. She tried to force her eyes to adjust faster but it was taking a painfully long time for her to see in the dark. And worst, she had no clue where Sasuke had disappeared. One minute he had her hand and was dragging her through the wilted field, the next she felt him being pulled away from her. Desperately she latched herself to his arm but whoever was pulling was stronger than her determination.

She crouched down low and kept her ears open even though she wasn't sure if she'd be able to hear anything over the sound of her own heart racing inside her chest.

**Keep calm Sakura and remember your training.**

_It's dark and Sasuke's gone to who knows where. _

**Then you have to first find out how to get to some light then go find Sasuke.**

_Easier said than done._

**Stay low and go in the direction you were going. We were headed towards that door you came in through. **

_That was still a long ways off._

**Just go.**

Taking a deep breath and forcing her heart to calm down she began crawling in the direction they had been running towards at first. She was going to find some light first if she wanted to rescue Sasuke. Running around in the dark during a rescue mission wouldn't be too smart.

Slowly she crept forward conscious of the loud crackling noise the dead flowers made underneath her footsteps.

"Going somewhere," a voice echoed in the dark.

Sakura froze.

"Why don't you stay for a little bit longer? You were having fun just a few minutes ago weren't you? You could still be having fun if you hadn't ruined the genjutsu Itachi had so graciously created.

"Where's Sasuke?" Sakura shouted into the dark.

"Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke, that's all you people ever talk about."

"Fine than, who are you?" Sakura asked squinting, thinking she saw a figure in the blackness.

"I am the current helper of Itachi. You met my brother Blaze ninja of the Flames, but unlike him I'm not so easy to defeat. They usually call me Blizzard, ninja of the Ice. And boy is my game colder."

Sakura shuddered as if on cue. She could almost feel his smirk resonating through out her body. Remember Blaze's game was to either smash her into rocks or burn her skin off she went on guard. "So who's jutsu are you going to imitate?" she asked hoping he'd at least give her a hint.

"Oh I'm insulted. I'll only use my very unique jutsu's. I don't have to imitate. My power is more than enough. Are you ready to play?"

Sakura remained silent.

"I'll take that as a yes."

**You know…I'm beginning to hate games. Whatever happened to a simple hide and seek game? OH! I have an idea! How about we hide and he doesn't seek!?**

_Sarcasm isn't going to keep us alive here stupid._

**Just trying to help. Hey, by the way, is it getting a little chilly?**

Snapping out of her conversation with inner Sakura she suddenly felt something soft and cold floating down and hitting her skin. A little after it made contact it melted to ice cold liquid.

"Is it…snowing?" Sakura asked sticking her hand out.

Blizzard laughed and suddenly the lights snapped on. Sakura found herself standing in a field of wilted flowers covered with white. The eerie scene made her uncomfortable. She looked up and saw Blizzard standing a few yards in front of her looking even more eerie than the scene itself.

Startling handsome he stood a good six feet tall with long white hair that reached down past his back. His pale skin was a startling contrast to the black cape covering black pants and half shirt. His pale pink lips held a knowing grin. But what caught her attention most were the empty pale, pale, baby blue eyes that were even more deadly looking than Neji's pale eyes when he was furious.

"You look at me as if I were a ghost." He said smiling at her sweetly.

Sakura stood confused. Even though she was sure he meant her harm she couldn't feel any tension; couldn't sense the danger in his aura. He looked dangerously appealing to her and if she didn't know better she'd have though he meant her no harm. The thought quickly vanished when something sharp hit her burned arm. Snapping to reality she darted out of the way as another ice shard zoomed past her.

* * *

"Yay! Yes! Yes! Yes!" Ino squealed swimming on shore. She pulled herself out of the thick water and onto solid concrete.

Shikamaru and Lee followed and did the same. Shikamaru sighed and took a deep breath. He instantly regretted it as he inhaled the foul scent. Wringing out his shirt he coughed. "I'm happy we're out. Swimming has never been a strong feat of mine. I was getting worn out."

Ino nodded in agreement shaking her head in an attempt to rid it of the murky liquid. "And it didn't help that it was so thick." She said watching the water fall in thick drops on the floor with a loud "plop".

Lee stretched and grinned. "What a wonderful exercise! It taught us endurance against the smell, trained our bodies in long distance, and added challenge with the extra weight of the water. Gai! You would be proud!"

Shikamaru sighed and opened his mouth to say something sarcastic but froze.

"Something's here." Lee whispered stepping forward to get a better hearing.

A small chill ran down all their spines as they sensed rather than saw whatever was coming at them. The bloodlust that suddenly filled the air was far worst than the putrid smell of the sewer water gurgling behind them.

"We need to get a move on before it finds us." Shikamaru said. "We need to find Naruto and Hinata."

"And Sasuke!" Ino shouted.

"And Sakura!" Lee added.

"Yea, pretty much everyone. Stick close." Shikamaru began ascending the ramp that led up and probably out of the sewer's tunnels. The farther out they got the less he could sense whatever had been coming at them. He began to relax when he saw light and couldn't sense it anymore at all.

"Light? Oh my gosh are we almost there?" Ino said sighing. She had been dragging her feet for the last twenty minutes as they started to ache. "You know this mission is becoming more of an extreme exercise program if anything. It's defiantly not a rescue mission…"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and ignored Ino. He stepped into the light and squinted. The light was flooding out of a square a few feet above him. "I guess that's our exit." He said stretching his hand up to see if he could reach. "Too short."

Ino laughed. "Shorty!" she teased laughing. Shikamaru frowned and glared at her. "You're not too tall yourself Ino." He retorted with a little venom.

Lee nodded in agreement. "Well what should we do?" Lee said looking up at the opening.

"Boost me up and I'll pull you and Ino in." Shikamaru said.

Lee folded his hands so that they were a foot hold. Shikamaru climbed on and Lee easily pushed him up until he reached the ledge. Pulling himself in he squinted trying to judge how much room they had. It was a pretty large tunnel. Two people could crawl next to each other if they wanted.

Leaning over Shikamaru took Ino's out reached hand and pulled her up next to him. Together they pulled Lee up. With their lids half closed in an attempt to protect their eyes from the intense light they began crawling through the tunnel. They crawled for a good ten minutes before Ino began sighing again. "Oh my gosh this is like a damn obstacle course! My knees hurt!" she whined.

"Ino please, we are all not too comfortable at the moment. Please endure a little longer." Lee said giving her a weak "nice guy" pose.

She turned around but continued crawling. "How do you do it Lee? Still grinning like an—"

"Ino stop crawling!"

"Wh—"

"Crap!"

"AHH!"

Ino reached out her hand and grabbed at Shikamaru's sleeve as she went falling over the edge. Shikamaru reached out and grabbed at Lee. The extra weight strained and they all went tumbling over. Landing in a tangled heap on the floor they all groaned in pain. Grabbing his back Shikamaru stood up. Ino sat up tightening her ponytail and watching Lee rub his arm.

"Ow, thank goodness that wasn't a long fall." Ino said helping Lee up and dusting herself off.

Shikamaru made a low rumbling noise in his throat out of pure frustration. "This is some bull…" he mumbled looking around.

Now taking notice of her surrounding Ino squealed. "NO WAY!" she yelled. Lee just stood silent looking around frustrated.

"You've got to be kidding me."

* * *

Sakura sucked in deep breaths of air trying to catch her breath. She felt herself shivering as the snow fell in thick blankets around her. She could see her breath forming in front of her in a cloud of frost. Her hand was barely gripping on the kunai. Blizzard gave her a heart stopping smile before laughing.

"Can't stand the cold?" he teased holding out his hand and catching the snowflakes falling from the ceiling.

Sakura felt her lungs tightening. The frigid cold was making it hard to breath and she was already working on over load. She could tell from the way her vision occasionally blurred and the way her body had become numb, no longer able to feel the burns or newly acquired cuts from the ice shards she had been trying to dodge for the past half hour. She knew by now he was a long distance fighter because he wouldn't let her get any closer than 15 feet. She tried to form a plan but the cold seemed to be freezing her brain also. She forced herself to focus. She wouldn't make it too much longer in the snow storm.

**S…S…S…Sa…Kura. **

_Y..Yea?_

**It's too…C…cold.**

_No, it t…t…too…wa…warm._

**We can…t be…beat…hi…him in the…sn…ow. It's too…c…cold in here.**

Sakura nodded trying to get her body to stop shaking. She had trained in snow before. As a matter of fact the cold had never bothered her anymore than any other weather. But this cold was chilling her right down to her soul. It was literally too cold. Her thought process was being affected along with her reaction time. She was becoming worn out and hadn't even landed a hit on Blizzard.

_So this is….wh…where…he gets….his…c…corny….name._

Blizzard threw another shard at Sakura. Snapping to attention she flung herself into the snow that had now become so thick she could no longer see the field of dead roses. Her mind told her to get back up but her body refused. She laid there shivering, her pink hair frosting over with streaks of ice. Her pale pink lips now turned to a light blue/purple shivered against her will. She tried to close her hand into a fist in an attempt to get a grip on her kunai but her hand remained in its position no longer under her control but answering to the cold.

Blizzard walked towards her seeming to glow in the backdrop of snow. He glided over to her looking darkly angelic in his all black. He knelt down beside her and kissed her forehead. Pushing her bangs out of her face he smiled sweetly. "It's such a shame that cherry blossoms die." He said almost as if he were reminiscing. "They're so unique, beautiful, delicate. But the winter months always claim them…always." A shard of ice formed in his hand and glimmered threateningly.

"I wish you wouldn't have come, all we wanted was Sasuke."

* * *

_How'd you like it? Letme know RnR_


	11. Face off: the Red, Cold, Games

_A treat! A quick update. Jrotc drill season is over for unarmed male mix platoon, we didn't make it to Nationals. :( So no more practice, which means more time for stories! :) I know, the names are a little corny lol, sorry. Last time I never did thank you guys for the comments about grammer and all. THANKS! Well any way..._

_Shall We?_

Living in the Shadows

(Paranoid Part Two)

Sasuke groaned rubbing his head and trying to get the thudding to stop. His whole body felt sore, his only relief being the cool atmosphere that slightly eased the aching.

Still a bite foggy he looked around realizing it was completely dark. He couldn't sense or hear anything else besides his own heartbeat and breathing. "Where am I?" he wondered.

Suddenly his head cleared and his recent memories flashed through his mind. Getting on his knees he was instantly on guard remembering the amazingly strong arms pulling him from Sakura. He could now hear her voice echoing in his head, calling his name out and trying to hold on in vain.

Reassessing his situation he looked around again, this time more alert and aware. He heard nothing still but this time sensed something deadly. He scowled as he recognized the aura. He was always ready for him so much so that he could sense it any where from a ten mile radius probably.

"Why don't you turn on the lights?" Sasuke hissed in a low voice knowing _he_ could hear him.

"But the dark is so lovely." A low voice crooned back. "It's where I found my strength."

"It's where you found your betrayal dear _brother._" Sasuke replied spitting out the last word with venom. He stood up and looked into the darkness even though he couldn't see.

"I killed every single person who had Uchiha blood running in their veins…" he said it as a statement, as if he was remembering it himself, "and every drop of blood I spilt bought me more power. I tested myself and found that I could overcome senseless bonds that held me back. I lost my heart, stepped into the darkness, and found it was beautiful in all its strength. Dear little brother, you can't hope to defeat me as long as you hold on to your bonds. They make you weak." His voice was deep and velvet as he said these words his aura becoming more definite.

"I am bound to no one." Sasuke shot back.

"No one?" the voice questioned. "Not the demon fox? Not even the pink hair kunoichi?"

Instantly Sasuke's body went rigid as their faces came into his mind. Sakura's locking in place. He had to calm himself, an irrational fear ran through him as he realized he had no idea where she was.

"As of currently she'll be dead in a few minutes. Her delicate body couldn't handle the cold though she tried. My assistant is standing over her, ready to take her life."

Sasuke heard himself catch his breath. "You better not touch her or I swear you'll regret it more than anything." He growled. He couldn't put his finger on it but he felt this surge of power that followed the words. At first he thought it was coming from his brother but realized it was radiating from inside him, beckoning him to carry out his threat. It was almost stronger than his thirst for vengeance.

"Oh don't worry. _I_ won't. We have more pressing manners."

"She better not be hurt." Sasuke said ignoring the words.

"You see my little experiment was poorly executed in the past. Don't you remember?"

Sasuke unconsciously clutched his stomach that had a whole new injury caked over with blood. "Where's Sakura?"

"Well I perfected it now. As a matter of fact that's how I got my three assistants. Unfortunately one of them was too eager and ended up dead. But no matter."

"I swear…"

"I would still like to try it out on you brother. You're the perfect vessel. And with Orochimaru out their lusting after you, having you under my control could benefit me more than I thought. Perhaps leaving you alive was fate."

"WHERE'S SAKURA!" Sasuke yelled finally, angry that he kept getting cut off with senseless babble.

"You can go rescue her. But that's only if you make it past me."

Sasuke braced himself two conflicting emotions fueling him. Worry and bloodlust. Together they created an intense fire inside of him, one that seared his soul. With out even noticing he had already activated his bloodline trait, his eyes glowing a dangerous red in the darkness.

"Well than, shall we?" there was suddenly another pair of blood red eyes staring back at Sasuke's own looking menacing and eerily calm in the dark. Nothing else could be seen in the dark but the atmosphere was clouded with electricity.

"Itachi…."

* * *

Naruto and Hinata squinted as they neared the light. "I can see something." Hinata said shielding her pale eyes with her hand. "Two people…."

Naruto shuddered and they stepped through the opening. They froze instantly. Hinata's coat provided little heat despite the thickness of it. Naruto's teeth chattered as he hugged himself.

"Crap, it's snowing." He mumbled watching the flakes fall on his shoulder and wishing he had dressed warmer. "I thought we were inside."

Hinata frowned. "This snow is filled with chakra, this isn't regular snow. It's too cold to be regular snow." She ignored the floods of charka flowing in the fluff beneath her and zoned in on the two people a little distance away. They were at least three miles ahead but she could see them clearly with her Byakugun.

"Two people, one's standing over the other holding something…sharp."

"Who is it?" Naruto asked stepping forward.

Hinata concentrated. Even though her blood line trait was quite as refined as Neji's if she concentrated she could still make out individuals. "One I don't recognize, the other is…" she gasped as she saw the limp figure lying down motionless. "Sakura! He's going to hurt Sakura!" she cried out.

Without needing another word Naruto stepped forward, braced himself on his two feet, inhaled the cool air, and yelled. "HHHHHEEEEYYYYY!! DON'T YOU TOUCH HER!!"

The snow covered field seemed to actually move as his voice vibrated and filled the air.

Sakura lifted her head as the familiar voice broke through the cold and reached her consciousness. "N….Naruto." she whispered her voice coming out in faint clouds of mist.

"Is that the name of the loud mouth who just so rudely interrupted our little session?" Blizzard asked dryly, his baby blue eyes suddenly flickering with irritation.

She smiled at this; suddenly the cold didn't even matter. _He can beat him. Naruto can save Sasuke if I can't. _She put her head back down letting it rest comfortable in the thick blanket of snow. She had become numb but it didn't feel horrible anymore. Someone could save Sasuke now. Everything would be alright. She closed her eyes feeling relaxed.

Naruto and Hinata began running towards the two bodies. Hinata gave what information she already knew to Naruto. "He's using charka in the snow. I guess it makes it colder so it's harder for the opponent to fight. It affects your breathing since the air is so frigid. I wouldn't inhale too deeply or you could have problems." Even as she said this she changed her breathing from regular to short even intakes. She could tell Naruto was listening because his breathing changed. She could see the little puffs of cold smoke coming out faster. But he was doing all this mechanically. His mind was focused on Sakura, his blue eyes filling with determination and anger.

She stared for a moment at him, watching his face carefully. At first she felt a twinge of envy at the thought of how much he cared for her. He was rushing into a possible life threatening situation without a second thought for her. But that was quickly replaced with admiration. How he could care for someone so deeply, so strongly. His heart was too big. It was ironic that this was the same boy who held the nine tailed fox inside of him.

"Is there anything else you can tell me?" Naruto asked suddenly.

Hinata quickly looked away embarrassed at the thought that he may have noticed her staring. "He has a good amount of charka but it's obvious he used quite a bit of it to make this snow storm. That's all I can tell right now."

He nodded slowing down slightly as they got close enough to see them. "Hinata." He said still focused on the two bodies ahead of them.

"Hm?"

"I want you to take Sakura and get her out of here. Take her and try to find the rest of the group. If you don't find them ten minutes after you get out of here I want you to leave and get out of this tunnel with out them."

"But...but I'll be leaving you here by yourself." She said softly.

"I'll be ok." He said. Before she could think of something to resist they had arrived by Sakura and her attacker. "Remember. As soon as you get the chance." He whispered.

"Ah, the loud mouth and a guest." The man standing over Sakura said. Naruto immediately was aware of the sharp point glinting in his grasp. Naruto locked eyes with him glaring furiously. "Get away from her." He commanded.

Blizzard gave them a dazzling smirk but complied. Slowly he took a step away from her. "Are you the big hero who comes and saves the day?" he asked mockingly.

"Something like that." Naruto said, his voice hinting playfulness but his eyes keeping their intensity. "But unlike other hero's I tend to go over board when I'm beating down the villain. I hope that doesn't cause a problem."

Blizzard laughed a loud exaggerated laugh that reverberated through their bones. Hinata glanced at Sakura who had her eyes closed, looking peaceful in her defeat. Hinata frowned hoping it was just her eyes playing tricks. Sakura hadn't given up…

"Well, you have a little fire in you don't you?" Blizzard formed another crystal shard in his other palm and held them up. "Allow me to cool you down."

* * *

Shikamaru put his face in his hand for a minute trying to calm his frustration. After climbing, falling, crawling, and swimming they showed no progress. All that work to lead them right back in the same spot. Before them were a number of doors in different designs, colors, and sizes. The exact same room they had come to when they escaped the stairs that had them sliding to their deaths. The only good thing that came from this was that his original idea about this room was right. It was nothing more than a trap that was meant to confuse people. Most of these doors probably had no point to them at all.

"Well….which door?" Lee asked his frustration seemingly already gone and replaced with his usual optimism. He grinned at his two teammates encouragingly.

"You pick." Ino mumbled remembering it was her choice that had led them here. She could feel the sewer water drying on her and she was now irritated and feeling highly unsanitary.

"I'd rather not." Lee said quickly looking at all the choices.

"Shikamaru?" they both said in unison, turning towards him. They waited for a moment as he kept his face covered in his hands and took deep even breaths. "This is so damn troublesome." He mumbled waving a pointed finger around with his free hand. After a minute of random waving he stopped. "That one." He said still keeping his face buried.

"That's an interesting choice. It's all isolated." Lee pointed out walking towards it. He pulled the door open and looked inside. "It's kind of small too."

"It's isolated, it's small, and it's the perfect choice." Shikamaru said finally looking up. "I'll go in first. Lee you go in behind Ino." Walking towards it he climbed in without even thinking twice. He wasn't use to the guessing game. He liked having strategy, being able to plan out the next step. But in a labyrinth like this one he had no choice to go with the flow and it was becoming irritating.

They crawled for what seemed like forever in complete silence. Even Ino stayed quiet not bothering to complain since it wasn't going to help. After a while Shikamaru became highly irritated again. "Ok, bad choice, lets go back and…" he stopped as he came up towards a hole in the tunnel. Inspecting the break he smiled. "Brand new." He said almost too cheerfully.

"What?" Ino asked trying to ignore Shikamaru who had his butt sticking her face.

"This trap was activated a little while ago. It's not old. The break is new which means-"

"Luck is on our side friends!" Lee shouted enthusiastically.

Shikamaru nodded. "We're finally headed in the right direction. The only problem is we don't know where this leads. It looks like a pretty long drop." He put his hand on the inside of the drop and felt the walls. "Earth." He took a kunai and stuck it into the wall. "Well, that's our way down." He said with finality.

"What is?" Ino questioned raising an eyebrow.

"You know how we got down that ramp?" Shikamaru asked with a mischievous edge to his voice. "That's the same way we'll get down now."

"WHAT?!" Ino shouted. "But the ramp was _slanted_. This is just a very, very steep _drop_. It's a lot harder; I don't have that kind of arm strength."

"Yes you do. You have no choice unless you want to stay. This time I'll be only a few inches to your side. Lee will be on one side, I'll be on the other. We'll climb down right next to each other."

"Well then! This should be a good challenge too!" Lee said.

Shikamaru stuck another kunai into the wall and climbed over making sure he had a firm grip. He pushed his feet into the wall and held himself. "The quicker this goes, the easier it will be." He urged as Ino hesitated at the edge.

"Well now I'm highly convinced you two are suicidal." She muttered sticking in her two kunai and climbing over. She felt a jolt of fear as she thought of the fact that her feet were dangling beneath nothing but black. Lee quickly climbed over and they began their descent.

Twenty minutes of climbing mostly off of pure arm strength Ino's arms began to feel wobbly and started to ache. This time she really did have a reason to complain. Her body wasn't built like the two males on either side of her who continued like they weren't doing anything more than walking down the street.

"Shikamaru." She whispered feeling ashamed suddenly. "I don't think my arms can hold out much longer."

He looked up at her and frowned. He had suspected the climb down was a long one and wondered if Ino had enough arm strength to last. He knew she probably didn't but he had to risk it. It was better than free falling or turning back on a good lead.

"Can you climb a little more?" he asked his mind coming up with alternatives already.

She nodded weakly and moved down to prove she still had a little strength left. Shikamaru smiled at her proudly and continued his own descent. She was annoying a good eighty percent of the time but she had a spark to her that attracted his attention. Regardless, if the end didn't come soon he'd have no choice but to carry her. He was fairly sure he had the strength to do so if he alternated between Lee and himself, at least till they got far enough.

Ten more minutes passed and Ino was fighting to keep going. Her arms were now working on sheer will. Her strength long since had disappeared. But now her will was running out too. She didn't want to do this anymore. She considered free falling; maybe it'd be better than torturing her arms. Either way she was bound to fall.

"Shikamaru." Lee said quietly looking up at Ino. "I think she's had enough."

Shikamaru looked up and saw Ino dangling tired onto her kunai, her feet desperately trying to find some foot holds. He nodded and tested out his muscles by straining them. He had enough stamina to carry her.

"Ino," he called up.

"Hm?" her voice was tired, irritated.

"How about we carry you? You seem a little worn out."

She shook her head. "I'm too heavy, we'll both fall." She mumbled trying to reset her grip.

"You're not heavy and we won't fall. C'mon." he pressed.

She shook her head and felt her hand slip momentarily. "Nope, you're not falling on account of me."

He sighed. "Now you're insulting me. Do you really think I'm that weak? Besides Lee and I will take turns."

Lee nodded. "Please Ino."

She sighed. "Ok." She said. She guessed she had just enough left in her to climb down the few feet that distanced them. Carefully she placed one kunai below her and held herself onto that one as she moved the other. Her left arm wobbled and she felt her hand release it's grip.

"Ino!" Shikamaru and Lee shouted as she dangled with one arm.

Cursing she tried to reach up but her right arm was too tired to hold her. Her hand let go and she felt herself falling, not sure if she should scream or not. She felt someone's hand launch out and grab her. Looking up she saw Lee grinning as he held her one handed. She frowned.

"Crap." She whispered watching his kunai begin to slide through the wall under their weight. Looking up Lee saw what she saw and frowned also. "Not good."

Before he could react the kunai gave way and they were falling again. "Hold it!" Shikamaru said reaching out and grabbing Lee's arm. He grunted as his arm pulled under all of their weight. He looked up and saw his own weapon straining.

"A little help." He said gritting his teeth.

Lee looked up. "I don't have any free hands!" he said.

Ino reached into her pouch and tried to pull out another kunai but her hands were too rubbery and weren't working properly. Her whole pouch unhooked from her hip and fell.

"No! No. no, no, no!" she yelled watching them fall. Two seconds later they heard the clanging noise of the various weapons hitting the floor.

"Perfect." Shikamaru said.

"I'm sorry!" Ino cried looking up at him. Lee re-gripped her arm.

"No, it wasn't sarcasm." Shikamaru said looking down. "The weapons, we could hear them hit the floor. So all we have to do is drop."

Lee looked up at the Shadow ninja with a questioning glance. "I trust you my friend but that plan is a bit….risky."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "If we can hear the weapons hitting the floor than we can't be too far up."

Ino swallowed at the thought of falling yet again. She shuddered, they seemed to be doing a lot of falling today.

"One,"

"He's serious?"

"Oh my god, oh my god!"

"Two,"

"Wait! Let's come up with a new plan!"

"THREE!"

"WAIT!"

Shikamaru let go of the kunai and all three of them went falling into the blackness. Ino shut her eyes. It would take a minute before she hit the ground. But a hard push followed by a thud snapped her eyes open.

"OOOOOWWWW!" she yelled.

Lee landed perfectly on his feet grinning widely. He turned to Ino and laughed as she rubbed her butt. "Nice landing! I give you a ten!" He turned to Shikamaru and his grin faded to a worried frown.

"I'm ok." Shikamaru said taking out the three shurikin that had embedded them selves deep in his leg.

On the way down he had noticed Ino's fallen weapons had made a dangerous landing below her. Reacting without thought he shoved her out of the way and took the fall. A pool of blood stained his pants as he took out the weapons. He looked up and gave a wary smile at the two worried faces staring down at him wide eyed.

"Really, it stings a little but it's not as bad as it seems." Taking out a bandage from his pouch he wrapped it tightly around his leg and tied it. Ignoring the sharp stinging he got up and dusted himself off. "See? Good as new." He said suppressing a grimace as pain shot through his leg.

"I'm…I'm so sorry." Ino whispered realizing she should be the one with three massive cuts in her leg.

Glaring he walked away. "Spare me the pity; you two act like you've never seen someone get hurt. More importantly though, it looks like we found something." He walked towards a door and read the sign.

**Welcome**

**Complete the test in one piece,**

**And I'll let you through me.**

Lee touched the sign and the room groaned. Slowly the door swung open revealing a large empty space that smelt faintly of smoke. "A stadium?" Lee asked peeking his head carefully inside.

"Mm, more surprises…you got to love it." Shikamaru said sarcastically, stepping inside. The other two followed keeping their eyes and ears open.

"All dirt walls." Ino pointed out running her hand over one of the walls.

Shikamaru shook his head. "Except that." He said pointing at a metal door on the far side.

"Well than, doesn't that look promising." Lee took a step forward.

"Yea, but I doubt we'll make it across this arena without having to do something." Shikamaru muttered scanning the room.

Suddenly clapping echoed throughout the room. "So observant! I'm _so_ happy you three survived the small traps! I've been having a _bore_ just waiting!" a cheerful voice squealed.

Looking around they saw nothing. "Who are you?" Lee asked his voice sounding merely curious than alarmed.

"The games, the puzzle, the outright fun! The black sheep of the family I suppose!"

"You're not helping."

"Oh dear, than let me break it down. Everyone in my family specializes in an element. Poor little Blaze got burnt to a crisp and Blizzard it working on chilling peoples bones. But games and puzzles are much more fun to me. The excitement! Any how, anyway, would you like to play?"

Shikamaru groaned. "No, we would like to get to the other side." He took a cautious step forward. Just as he expected a shard rose up almost piercing through his foot. This place was probably filled with traps.

"This stadium was originally made for me though I let Blaze borrow it. It's fully set up for me and my games. You won't get to the door unless you beat me."

"And you are?"

Suddenly he materialized before them, his face just inches from Shikamaru's. He smiled slyly when Shikamaru didn't flinch backwards. "Oh so brave and handsome." He mused. "They call me Joker, and these are my games."

On cue the floor of the arena shot up different walls that almost touched the ceiling. The walls held different colors and designs that were reminiscent of the doors they had to pick and choose from.

Joker hopped back towards the beginning of the maze and grinned looking foolish in his clown suit but his dark black make up showed there was a deadly intent behind his jokes. His eyes, which were a weird shade of purple danced menacingly. "Now I'm no longer asking. It's play…or die."

_You know I've never liked clowns and their games, they're so scary...Any way! Every one is back in the story for the most part! And everyone is having a face off!! You like it? You hate it? Any suggestions, comments, concerns, confusions, etc? Let me know!! :P_


	12. LIGHT

_Sorry for the long update. Computer issues mixing with a now busy scheadule! I had to restart the whole chapter, sorry if it's a little uh...less than expected. I hope it's bearable! It really sucks to restart a chapter. N E way! I haven't said it in a while but i assume everyone knows that I don't own Naruto. :( But yep! :)_

_Shall we?_

Living in the Shadows

(Paranoid Part Two)

Shikamaru rubbed the temples of his forehead and sighed. "Well team," he said a slight hint of annoyance lacing his tone "It looks like we're playing a game."

"Mar-ve-lous!" Joker said drawing out each syllable. "I just knew you'd agree!"

"Yea, yea." Ino muttered. "How do we play? We get through the little maze?"

Joker laughed loudly and extended his hands. "Precisely. All you have to do is get through the maze! Of course, I'll be there to stir up a little trouble but I'm sure you can handle it!" he grinned showing a row of startling bright, white teeth that made him look all the more creepier against his dark clown make up. "Ready? Set. GO!"

Shikamaru, Lee, and Ino stood there, staring at Joker. Frowning the clown skipped to the entrance and beckoned them to move forward. "Come on, I said go."

"I'm not going to get sliced up before I even get to the maze. I'm sure there's enough traps in there for one game. Make the spikes stop and we'll go." Shikamaru said calmly.

"This isn't a negotiation." Joker whined.

"Yes it is, and we don't play unless you stop the spikes."

Rolling his eyes Joker made two hand signs, muttered something and gave them thumbs up. "They stopped."

Cautiously Shikamaru stepped forward. When no spikes shot up to pierce through his foot he took another cautious step. Satisfied he motioned for the others to follow. At the start of the maze Shikamaru stopped and looked back at his team. "We go in and keep on alert at all times. Ino," he looked at her, "You're in the middle. Make sure you're watching above us for any traps. Lee, you're in back. I'll lead. We keep a five foot distance from each other. If anything happens we don't want to bring everyone down with us but we want to stay close incase we need help. If something doesn't feel right move, even if you just think you're just being paranoid. Don't take _any_ chances." He looked up at Joker and scowled. "And keep an eye on clown face."

Joker laughed and clapped. "Well, let's not take up anymore time! Let the game begin!"

Carefully he stepped inside the first hall. The walls looked even more bizarre when they were towering over them, the patterns making them dizzy. Shikamaru made a mental reminder to himself to keep track of which direction they were going. The designs could easily throw them off. As soon as Ino and Lee stepped through a wall shot up behind them trapping them in the maze. Ino swallowed feeling claustrophobic. Joker's incessant laughter echoed through out the halls making them all uneasy.

They walked cautiously down the halls trying to ignore the laughing and patterns that seemed to be spinning and bouncing on the walls. Thirty minutes into the maze they came to a fork, one side went to their left and the other continued straight.

"Which one?" Lee asked.

Shikamaru looked down both halls. They looked just about the same to him. "The one straight ahead seems just as good as any other." He reasoned taking a step into the hall. As soon as his foot hit the ground there was a loud click. Freezing Shikamaru waited for a wave of spikes or a rain of acid. When nothing happened he raised an eyebrow. "Something's wrong." He whispered taking another step. He heard another click. He held up a hand as Ino made a move to follow. "Stay." He ordered taking another step. There was another click.

Shikamaru held his breath when he saw four shadows appearing from far on the other side of the hall; they were rushing at them with incredible speed.

"What the hell is that?" Ino asked, squinting her eyes.

As the figures got dangerously closer Shikamaru cursed. He could make out the grotesque form of doglike creatures; saliva flew back from their mouths and blood red eyes locked onto them with a vicious hunger.

"Other hall!" Shikamaru yelled turning around.

Wasting no time Lee spun on his heel and darted down the hall to their left with Ino and Shikamaru right behind him. It only took a minute before Shikamaru could hear the loud growls of the creatures after their prey.

"You're joking!" Ino shouted taking a quick glance back. "They already caught up?!"

"Don't look back!" Shikamaru yelled. "Run!"

They sprinted down the hall as the dogs got closer. It seemed the faster they ran the closer the dogs got. Lee suddenly tripped on a stray block sticking out of no where. In her haste Ino stepped on it and the block was pushed down into the floor.

"DROP!"

Lee fell to his stomach and Shikamaru snatched Ino back as needles hissed out of the walls just high enough to miss Lee. Shikamaru glanced back and saw the beasts only a few yards away covering distance fast.

Before Shikamaru could even get an order out Lee was back on his feet. "Friends, we should continue!" he said jogging in place. Taking his lead they started the sprint again.

"Watch for traps!" Shikamaru warned. Even as he said this he didn't notice a thin string dangling down. His shoulder just barley brushed against it before a larger rumbling started. The animals that had been chasing them whimpered and skidded to a stop before turning around and running the other direction. Glancing back Shikamaru saw the dogs leave.

"FREEZE!" he shouted.

The group instantly halted. "The dogs ran the other way, I suggest we follow." He said breathless.

"What? Follow the little monsters?" Ino said resting on her knees. "I don't know but _following _a pack of rabids who just tried to eat us doesn't sound too great of a suggestion."

There was a loud rumbling again and the hall's temperature shot up to an almost unbearable heat.

"What's going on?" Lee asked as his body warmed dramatically.

They suddenly heard the annoying laughter from above them.

"Joker."

"It's true, it's me! Now, things are about to get fun!" he said spinning on his toes. He froze and looked directly at Shikamaru, giving him a challenging smirk. "My little handsome team leader." He said smiling mischievously. "This should be tons of fun for you. If you lose there's a heavy price, hopefully the decisions you make are right."

Ino put her hands on her hip and frowned. "Just what kind of tricks are you cooking up?" she hissed.

With out unlocking his gaze with Shikamaru he smirked. "You couldn't even imagine how literal that is." Then he disappeared leaving only a puff of smoke.

"Now what's _that_ suppose to mean?" Ino asked wiping her brow.

Lee backed into her. "Hey-!" she shouted turning to Lee. She also froze. "Uh--"

"What?" Shikamaru snapped angrily. He wasn't sure why but Joker was seriously ticking him off. It was almost as if he was waiting for Shikamaru to get one of his team mates killed, if Hinata and Naruto weren't dead already. Forcing the thought back he turned towards whatever his team was gawking at. Sighing he pulled at his teammates shirts. "It's time we start running again." He said in an eerily calm voice.

On cue all three turned and sprinted down the hall with hell literally at their heels. A large cloud of hot flames were chasing them down, threatening to swallow them in its heat.

* * *

Naruto scowled at the man he was facing off. He glanced quickly at Hinata and saw her waiting for her chance to get to Sakura.

"Well," Naruto said spinning a set of shurikin around his fingers, "how about I start things off?" he rushed at Blizzard, flinging the sharp projectiles at him. Blizzard dodged to the left letting the flying knives spin past him. Taking his moment of distraction Naruto launched himself at the blue eyes ninja. Blizzard caught his fist and tried to pull Naruto towards him. Thinking quick Naruto swept sent a kick aimed at his head. Forced to let go of Naruto's wrist Blizzard ducked. Keeping the pressure on Naruto sent another kick, this time low, sweeping the snow into the air with his foot. Jumping back Blizzard cursed.

"So you have some talent." He hissed, his long white hair settling down on his back once again.

Naruto smirked and scoffed. A white puff of smoke formed around his breath reminding him of the cold. Despite his activity his body was still cold and even though he was using Hinata's breathing technique his lungs were still straining to take in the frigid air. "Some?" he said trying not to show anything but arrogance. "I got a lot more to show ya'" This time he took out a kunai and held it in a tight grip. "Here we go." And he launched himself at Blizzard once again.

Hinata waited until Blizzard was fully preoccupied with Naruto. She watched or a while as Naruto kept up a constant steam of attacks, forcing the snow ninja to stay on defense. She still worried though; with every attack she saw Naurto's breath form heavier around him, becoming thick with every physical activity. By now their bodies should have become somewhat use to the cold, but it still felt like they just walked in.

"We have to get out." She whispered forcing her eyes off Naruto and running to Sakura. She kneeled down next to her and carefully picked her up. She held her for a minute checking her vital signs. She frowned. _Weak pulse, no shivering, blue lips, unconscious, she might have gone into shock…_she ran over all the basic medical procedures she had learned in the academy. Even though she wasn't a medic-nin, all ninja were required to have some medical training. _This is bad._ She rubbed her hands and arms in an attempt to warm her up before taking off her own coat and wrapping it around Sakura. Straining a little she managed to lift Sakura over her shoulder. Taking a quick look over her shoulder to wish Naruto luck she made her way towards the door they came through.

Naruto saw Hinata leave out of the corner of his eye but was carefully not to look at them directly incase Blizzard noticed and gave chase. He was freezing his ass off and the last thing he wanted was to start chasing anyone himself. Jumping back he dodged another round of ice missiles. He noticed the man trying to back away and quickly moved to close the space. Naruto could tell he wasn't a close contact fighter just by the way he hesitated when he fought. Taking the only advantage he had Naruto refused to give him any space. Naruto went at him again sending a kick sweeping at his head. Blizzard dropped down and slashed at Naruto cutting a line across his shirt and jacket with an ice shard. The shirt split and ripped leaving a large rip and bearing his stomach. Naruto hissed as the cold hit him with unrelenting force. He hadn't realized just how much heat his clothing had been providing him.

Suddenly on the defense Naruto held his hands up to guard himself against a kick that sent him skidding back through the snow, Remembering his plan he quickly ran to close the gap between himself and his opponent but Blizzard had already created distance and was keeping it. Cursing Naruto tried to jump back as a wave of ice needles flew at him. He dodged most of them but two or three sliced into his clothing ripping his sleeve off and ripping another hole in his side.

"What the hell?!" Naruto shouted angrily at the man. "Are you trying to strip me or something?! Freaking' A!" he looked down at his nearly shredded clothing agitated as the cold air blew against his exposed skin.

As if to prove Naruto's point two large shards of ice tore through the rest of the fabric leaving it hanging over Naruto. "DAMN IT!" Naurto scowled at the man.

"You hit the idea." Blizzard said calmly. "You have no shirt or jacket to help you regulate body heat, nothing to help against the cold." He smirked. "You'll succumb to the cold in less than ten minutes."

Naruto growled. "Not before I kick your ass for tearing my cloths." He said throwing off the ripped fabric that was once his jacket. His black shirt was torn but still intact and right now it was all he had to keep him warm; he was going to keep it on as long as it could stay on his shoulders.

Running at him Naruto made a number of hand signs. "Shadow clone jutsu!" Instantly a row of clones were running next to him, all of them looking just as angry as the other. "Let's go!"

The miniature army of Naruto's crashed into Blizzard intent on carrying out his threat.

* * *

Sasuke stood waiting. The dark was consuming and was almost tangible. He couldn't hear a thing except the sound of his breathing and slow, steady heartbeat. He could taste revenge on his tongue, the bitter taste lingering with anticipation. He squashed his worry over his teammates so he could concentrate but the intense anger that came with it was buried heavy into his system. He stood there in a relaxed fighting position, waiting for the first attack but every one of his nerves was on the edge keeping him fully awake and aware.

Thinking he heard a light footstep he turned his head towards the sound.

"Wrong way." A low voice said. Quickly flipping back Sasuke avoided the attacking, not sure if it was a kick or punch. He ran to the last spot and swiped his hand through the air in hoped of grabbing something. His hand hit nothing. Suddenly Sasuke sensed something and he reacted. Launching his foot out he almost hit what he though was his brother but it vanished before his foot made contact. Lowering his foot he waited again.

He felt like he was on pins and needles. His sharingun was useless in the dark at the current moment. He was at a disadvantage since he was sure Itachi could see just fine. Thinking, he ran over his options which were very limited. His planning was cut off as two weapons came flying at him from behind. He spun to his felt while simultaneously throwing two kunai in the direction the weapons came from. He heard the weapons hit a wall and clatter onto the floor. _Light._ He moved slowly towards the sound he had heard. If he couldn't fight in the dark than he'd have to find the light and light switches were on walls. He froze in time to block a kick that sent him skidding backwards and away from the wall.

"Where are you going little brother?" Itachi said from the darkness.

Ignoring him Sasuke took out a handful of shurikin and flung them in different directions, praying that if luck was on his side one would hit his brother in the ass. He listened as the shurikin hit the wall and fell to the ground. Turning to the direction were the noise was closest he walked forward. The hair on the back of his neck tingled, acting on his instinct he ducked and swept a low kick on the ground. Hitting nothing he cursed silently in frustration.

_Think Sasuke, _he stood completely still racking his brain for a plan more helpful than looking for light. _I need to get to light, but he won't let me near the wall. Damn it…_

He stood frustrated but still keenly aware of his surroundings. Itachi was playing around and taking cheap shots just to bug him. He'd never liked his brother's sense of humor too much and today it was just making him mad. Forcing himself to calm down he took a deep breath. He considered running for it but shook his head. His brother would have a knife to his neck before he made it to the wall. Suddenly an idea popped into his head. It wouldn't last long but it would give him enough time.

Reaching into his pouch on the side of his leg he pulled out a kunai. Putting it between his teeth he tore a piece of his sleeve off and wrapped it around the point. Aware that his brother was still lurking in the dark he worked quickly, constantly keeping an ear focused on the dark. Pulling a vile out of his pouch he bit the cap off and poured the liquid over the fabric. The chemical was originally a substance used to clean wounds when they couldn't be treated but right now it was the only flammable liquid he had that would burn for a while. Making a quick set of hand signs he exhaled a small amount of fire. It lit momentarily before Sasuke's alert system went off. He spun to the left and the flame flickered out. Trying again he lit the kunai and it sprung to life. The room filled with a dim pool of light around him. He smirked. It wasn't much but it was enough light so he could defend himself until he got to the wall.

Walking carefully but quickly he shielded the flame and began to quickly walk towards the wall knowing the flame wouldn't last long.

"Cute, you've made light."

Sasuke grinded his teeth at the sarcastic sting but kept going. Letting his brother get in his head was the last thing he needed at the moment. He saw the fire flickered which gave him warning that someone was stirring the air nearby him. Freezing he crouched and placed the miniature flame in between his teeth ignoring the heat that licked at his face. He needed both hands. After a while he crept forward again. Taking out another kunai he threw in straight ahead. Two minute later he heard the weapon make contact with the wall.

_I'm close._

Suddenly he had a strange feeling. Thinking quickly he bent backwards just as a formation of sharp weapons came flying at him. The flame licked at his face but stayed lit. Righting himself he continued forward moving closer. He was sure he was no farther than an arms length away before he felt a fist dig into his stomach. Gasping, the flame dropped out his mouth and cast a shadow on the wall. Shaking it off Sasuke flipped to the left avoiding another punch. Throwing up his arms he blocked a kick and sent one of his own in the direction of the attack.

He realized he was getting dangerously farther from the safety of the flames light as he dodged another attack. He rolled back into the light and pressed himself against the wall. He grimaced as his gut started to sting.

_The damn cheat hit me in my wound. _Sasuke thought hissing as he held his now bleeding stomach. He looked down as the light dimmed and realized the makeshift candle was going out. Picking it up he put his other hand against the wall and quickly walked forward. He leaned back as a fist heavily covered in a long sleeve went flying into the wall.

"You're playing dirty brother." Sasuke spat out. "This isn't your style."

He heard a deep laugh echo in the dark. "C'mon, I never did get to have my fun with you last time."

_Keep him talking._ Sasuke said to himself.

"What? You mean when you left a giant hole in my damn stomach?" he winced as pain tore through him reminding him of the torture he'd endured. History just seemed to keep repeating itself…

Another laugh resonated through the dark. "Let's stop the chatter." Itachi said with a hint of amusement lacing his tone. "You'll make me give away my position and it's rather fun watching you bounce around on your toes."

Sasuke scowled into the darkness hoping his brother could see the dark look that was intended for him. Still not slowing down he ran his hand over the wall looking for a switch before it dawned on him. "Damn." He muttered. The light could easily be a simple bulb with a string dangling from it. Who was to say there was a switch? For all he knew his light was a damn metal string hanging in the center of the room. Or there could be none at all. Sighing he kept walking forward anyway. There wasn't much else he could do.

He stopped as his light threw a long shadow against a wall directly in front of him. And even though it was hiding in the darkness he caught a glimpse of something that looked like a door handle. Eager he walked forward and reached out into the dark. His hand wrapped around a metallic sphere. Twisting it he yanked at it.

"Locked." He heard Itachi say.

Sasuke ignored him. It didn't matter. He had no intention of running anyway. But if there was a door….there was most likely a switch nearby. His kunai candle flickered before it fell dead leaving only the scent of burning fabric. Sasuke was once again cast into the thick dark that seemed to suffocate him.

Reaching out he felt the wall, looking for something, _anything_. Praying he continued to run his hand over the wall feeling nothing. Stretching out he continued to scan the area of the wall. He felt his fingers brush against something small right before he felt a sharp sensation in his hand. Pulling it away quickly he sucked in his breath. He wasn't sure what it was but something was sticking out of his hand. Yanking it out he reached again but had to pull it back to catch a leg. He twisted it but had to let go before he did any real damage to block a fist. He saw two red eyes staring at him and Sasuke immediately looked away. He sensed another attack and once again caught his brother's leg. Yanking on it he hoped to throw his brother off balance. Holding the leg with one hand he stretched the other out again. He felt a fist smash his face against the wall. Grunting he let go of the foot and slid to floor. Moving closer to the small thing he felt on the wall he came back up. Jerking his head to the right he missed the foot that went crashing into the wall were his head was only a second before.

Forcing him to pull his arm in he pushed his brother's foot back and reached out again. His fingers skimmed the small object. He just needed to get a little closer…stretching out desperately his fingers wrapped around it; he thrust it upward. Nothing happened. Cursing he flipped it down and up again.

"C'mon!" he yelled.

He heard a laugh seconds before a rain of kunai were sent at him. Sliding down he tried to come up with another plan but nothing else seemed reasonable besides getting light. He was now fighting in pitch dark while he literally had his back against the wall.

* * *

**Hey, Saukua.**

_Hm? What? What do you want now?_

**For you to wake up.**

_I'm tired. And if I wake up it'll be cold. You know I've never been too fond of the cold…_

**Are you freaking serious? Get up!!**

_You're awfully bossy._

**You're friends are here. Are you really going to let them fight you're battles?**

_Um…they're better suited than me._

**Sasuke's still missing.**

_They haven't found him?_

**Nope and I have a bad feeling.**

_You are a negative kind of person. Are you sure it's not just you?_

**You mean us. We're one. Now get you're ass up. Sakura, Sakura get up, C'mon, please get up…**

"Sakura!? Sakura wake up! Why won't you wake up?!"

Sakura fluttered her eyes at the sound of a soft but worried voice. She felt something shaking her and rubbing on her hands desperately. She was aware of a slight frigid feeling in her body and a numbness that seemed to be fading away. She was defiantly aware of the pounding headache she had. She couldn't ignore it. It was like a hammer banging on her brain.

Slowly she opened her eyes.

"Oh! Thank goodness you're awake!"

Sakura pulled her hand away to place it against her forehead in an attempt to stop the pounding. "Yep, and we need to find Sasuke." She groaned.

Hinata frowned. "Naruto told me—"

"Yea, yea, but we're going to find Sasuke instead…"

* * *

_Was it too horrid? Fighting scenes aren't my feild but, hey, practice makes nearly perfect. Any tips? Oh yea! Thanks for the reviews! 4 real, I hit my mark, w/ Paranoid Part one and 2 I got over 60!! Cool, huh? Thanks 4 the support again! It helps. But hey, by all means continue to review lol, the more the merrier!! :P_


	13. A Real Opponent: Obtaining power

**HEY HEY HEY!! Long time no see!! **

**Shall we continue?**

Living in the Shadows

(Paranoid: Part Two)

Sasuke cursed silently, frustration and anger bubbling inside him. He waited for another attack, racking his brain for some kind of alternative. There was no way he could be defeated like this, he wouldn't allow it. Pushing his bangs back he took a deep breath. He'd just have to fight blind.

Getting up he pushed his back flat against the wall and listened for any signs of his brother. He heard nothing in the thick darkness. Just the sound of his breathing and heartbeat. Concentrating he waited patiently, forcing himself calm.

He felt the air move towards his left. Ducking he missed the kick. He swept his foot over the ground hoping to catch his brother's ankles. Hitting nothing he flipped backwards to create distance incase his brother was still there. He pressed his back against the wall again.

"So you're not giving up? I thought for sure not having light would convince you how useless this battle was. In the dark or light, you'd lose brother. I'm sure your friends are dead by now."

Sasuke gritted his teeth, a wave of grief washing over him. "Shut the hell up." Sasuke spat.

Itachi laughed menacingly. "Such hatred brother. With all that anger, you can't come up with the strength to kill me?"

He felt his self control slipping at his brother's words. He was strong enough; his brother was just a damn cheat.

"What? Nothing to say? C'mon dear little brother. All your friends, including that little girlfriend of yours, are dying a slow, painful death. Why, I think the pink haired one froze to death, waiting for you to come and save her. And where are you? Hiding against a wall. Once again, you've allowed a family to die on your watch."

Sasuke pressed his palms against his ears, trying to block out the painful words. He squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to stop the memories. "I…I couldn't stop you then." He yelled into the dark, pictures of his parent's dead on the floor, their blood pooling around their limp bodies. "I…I wasn't strong enough…" he saw Sakura's emerald eyes staring admiringly at him, heard Naruto's laughter…he saw their bodies laid out lifeless at his feet. "But…I'm different…"

"I'm different brother…" he felt himself smirk even though anger was raging inside of him mixing with the pain. "Oh yes, I'm different. And I'm so much stronger." Something fierce built up inside of him. The power he suddenly felt startled him but he gladly welcomed it. This is what he needed to feel, this unfathomable hatred that was fueling his strength. This was what he was craving…

His eyes snapped open and suddenly the room was clearly visible though slightly tinted red. He could see Itachi standing in the middle of the room, staring curiously at his younger sibling. Sasuke looked down at his hands and saw them shaking with power. Clenching them into a fist he glared at his brother.

"Are you ready? He asked him. His voice came out low, almost demonic.

Itachi simply folded his arms and tilted his head slightly. "Well…it seems now, I have an opponent."

* * *

Naruto froze in his attack. He sensed something that shocked him. Some power radiating from somewhere. It was amazingly strong but laced with darkness. "Sasuke…" He somehow knew it was his teammate summoning up the power. He could almost taste the vengeance that was mixed with it. He wondered what was going on that was causing Sasuke to react in such a way. He'd never felt something like this coming from the young Uchiha. This was something sinister.

"Don't get distracted boy!" Blizzard yelled flinging ice shards at him. Naruto dipped to the left. Getting up he quickly resumed his attack. His clones followed suit close behind him. Simultaneously they leapt into the air and rained down on the snow ninja.

Grounding himself Blizzard raised his hands across his face in defense. There wasn't a way out of this ambush. Crashing to the ground under the weight of them he began slashing at the clones, hearing them disappear in a cloud of smoke. Naruto relentlessly kept up his attack but his strength was wavering. He could feel the cold almost burying itself into his bones. Unable to hold the clones they disappeared leaving only Naruto. Panting he backed away and tried to catch his breath. He shivered as his lungs just barely sucked in the freezing air. He scowled and hugged himself, trying to stop the uncontrollable shaking.

_I won't last much longer…_

As if reading his mind Blizzard stood up laughing. Dusting the snow off of him he gave Naruto a crooked smile. "Ah, it took longer than I wanted but it's taken its effect none the less. Soon you'll be lying on the floor frozen stiff."

Naruto glared at him. "Sh…shut up. Just give me a sec…second and I'll whoop your a-ass." He said between chattering teeth. But even as he said this the threat came out weak. He fell to one knee, still shivering. His breathing was coming in short gasps as his lungs begged for air. He looked up and saw Blizzard grinning down in satisfaction through his blurred vision.

_I have to move. _Naruto told himself. _I have to fight… they're counting on me…_ Aggravated he pushed himself up back on his feet. Suddenly his vision went black and he fell back. He heard Blizzard laughing as he drifted out of consciousness.

_Naruto looked around. He was in a hallway. Looking down he saw he was ankle deep in murky water. This place was familiar…_

_The hair on his arm stood on end as he sensed something. Whatever it was it was calling to him, beckoning him towards it. With each step forward the feeling grew more intense until it was almost stifling. Suffocating him with unbelievable power. It took only a few minutes before he found a cage that was locked with a powerful seal. _

"_You're pitiful." A low voice growled from inside the cage._

_Immediately Naruto recognized the voice. Suddenly he realized where he was, who's presence he was in. The demon fox that resided inside of him gave him both pain and power. _

"_Why is that?" Naruto asked. _

_The fox laughed. "How are you dying? Can't even take a little bit of cold?"_

"_It's not normal snow. It sucked the freaking energy out of me."_

"_Excuses do nothing to cover up your weakness boy." The fox sneered. _

_Irritated Naruto scowled into the darkness of the cage, "Look, I was bought here for a reason. What are you going to do for me?" _

_The fox laughed again, this time the sound filling the halls and reverberating off the walls. "So bossy. Obviously I can't let you lie there and freeze to death. I'll lend you some of my power."_

_Naruto smirked as something warm flowed through his veins. This feeling was almost intoxicating. Looking down at his hands he could see the red substance began to form around him, he balled his hands into a fist and closed his eyes._

"_Oh, this is going to get interesting…." _

Blizzard laughed as he stared down at the young boy's body that was lying there stiff and freezing over. This was too easy. He was sure the pink haired girl was dead by now and this spunky boy was defiantly dead at his feet. His master would be pleased with him. He did what his foolish brother couldn't do and he did it with ease. Kicking snow at the boy he turned to walk away when he sensed something strange. Confused he turned around.

"What the—"

He watched as a strange charka began to consume the boy. The red slowly covered the boy, melting the snow that was falling on top of his body. Not believing his eyes Blizzard stared, his mouth wide open as his special snow melted so easily. Suddenly the boy was pushing himself out of the snow until he was on his knees. His eyes were covered with his bangs but the smirk on his face was enough to shake up his composer. The sheer power that was radiating from him was frightening.

Blizzard backed away, wanting to create distance between them. This wasn't the same boy he was fighting before. This was no where close. Standing up Naruto began to dust of the snow. Laughing lightly he took a step towards Blizzard and the snow immediately melted to water and evaporated, the steam rising to mix with the red charka that had taken the form of a fox around him.

"Well…" Naurto said, his voice low, "I suppose we should get started.."

Blizzard glared at the boy, worry creeping up to choke him. Trying not to show it Blizzard laughed. "Oh, now you're suppose to frighten me?" he rolled his eyes. "I don't know how you're melting my snow but it doesn't matter, it will just keep coming. You can't melt it forever." His confidence growing at the thought he smiled.

"I guess I'll have to get rid of the one causing the snow than." Naruto said. He looked up and locked his gaze on Blizzard. He froze under the intensity of his eyes. They were now a deep cerulean blue that had red swirling inside and misting his gaze with power. Taking a deep breath he formed an ice shard in his palm.

* * *

Taking that as a challenge Naruto began to walk towards his enemy. His eyes locked on him like a predator after his prey; soon his steps were picking up speed. The steam that rose around him made him seem eerie, dangerous, worst was the blood lust that was flowing out of him. Suddenly Naruto was running at him with incredible speed. Before Blizzard could even blink he was flying through the air, a sharp pain in his jaw.

Shikamaru could feel the heat close behind him. Lee was sprinting ahead of them; Ino was trying her best to stay at his heels, the ball of fire behind her serving as motivation. Shikamaru could feel his breath wavering though; somehow this hallway became longer. He couldn't even see an end to it anymore. There was no way they were going to out run the fire at this rate. Sooner or later they'd fall out exhausted.

Thinking Shikamaru looked around for an escape. They couldn't climb the walls; there was nothing to stop the fire. They're were no escapes. Suddenly he realized something. Taking a quick look at the walls he examined the patterns. At first he assumed they were just designs used to throw them off. But they had a specific design, and every once in a while it changed to something different, one pattern ending abruptly and shifting to another one. That was how the hall became longer. The walls moved. And where the patterns changed was where a new wall was placed.

"Lee!" Shikamaru shouted.

"Yes?" He shouted back.

"I need you to try something. You need to run as far ahead as you can."

"What? I'm afraid I can not do that. I will not leave my teammates behind!"

"Listen Lee! You need to run ahead and create as much distance as you can, you'll need the time and you're fast enough. Once you get far enough you need to start pushing on the walls. If it doesn't move than go up a little more and try again. One of these walls should move."

Lee thought a moment. "Are you sure?"

"No, but it's all I got."

Giving thumbs up Lee suddenly took off, leaving them behind. It wasn't long before he disappeared.

"Shikamaru, I'm tired." Ino said. "I can't do this too much longer."

Shikamaru glanced back to see only a few feet between them and the ball of fire. He ran to catch up with Ino and grabbed her hand. He dragged her forward with him. "Let's hope you don't have to for too much longer."

Lee slowed down after creating a sufficient amount of space. He felt bad for leaving his team behind to face the ball of fire alone but he was given orders. He stopped and pushed against the wall on his left. After a while of trying he went up a few more feet and tried again, and again, and again. Frustrated he tried once more.

"I do not think the wall will move…"

He ran to the other side and pushed on those walls. None of them budged. A few minutes later he could see his teammates running towards him.

Shikamaru could see Lee pushing against the wall. His heart dropped once he saw the wall wasn't moving. He was tired and practically dragging Ino now. This had to work; if not this would all ready be it. He would have all ready failed and gotten his teammates killed.

"Push Lee! Push!" Shikamaru shouted praying that maybe Lee wasn't pushing hard enough. Lee threw his weight on the wall but it still didn't move. They were getting close now.

"It will not move!" he shouted back pushing harder.

"Push some where else!"

Lee moved up a few feet and tried again. It still didn't move. He looked back to see his friends closing the distance. He could see Ino dragging her feet and he knew Shikamaru wasn't too far behind from passing out. He was pushing himself. Unlike him, they weren't trained to sprint with his kind of speed for such a long distance. Most people weren't. He pushed harder until he was turning red. Frustrated that it wouldn't move he backed up. "MOVE!" he shouted before slamming his foot into it. Something clicked and the wall suddenly went crashing backward dragging Lee in. With no hesitation Shikamaru was soon ducking into the opening, pulling Ino in after him. The ball of fire rolled by, the heat brushing past them.

Shikamaru fell to the floor, Ino falling on top of him, knocking the air out of him. Lee was a few inches behind them trying to pull his foot out the wall.

"This is rather uncomfortable." Lee wined yanking at his foot.

Shikamaru grunted. "You think?" he said pushing at Ino.

Blushing Ino jumped up and rolled off him. "Um…my bad." She said dusting off.

Shikamaru nodded and sat up rubbing his neck.

"That was a close call." Lee said finally yanking his foot out with Ino's help.

Shikamaru sighed. "Yeah, it was. We've been having way too many of those." He grounded his teeth as irrational anger washed over him. "I must not be doing too great of a job."

"What?"

Crossing his arms the shadow-nin shook his head. "I've already lost two of my teammates, gotten us almost killed a number of times, and we still haven't found Sakura and Sasuke."

Frowning down at their team leader both Lee and Ino shook their heads. "We're still alive. This whole place is one trap after another; you're doing the best anyone can expect considering our situation. We're still alive and Naruto can take care of himself and Hinata. Don't start falling apart on us now." Ino said slapping him lightly on the shoulder.

"She is right." Lee agreed.

Shikamaru sighed again. He still wasn't fully convinced but Ino was right. This was no time to fall apart on them. They still had a long way to go. "You're right." He said. He got up and dusted himself off. He turned to his teammates and smiled. They gave him a reassuring smile back.

"I guess we should get going. Let's see where this new hall leads."

The joker watched from his hiding spot and smiled. His focus was locked on the handsome team leader. How he just loved watching him falling apart oh so very slowly. His plan was coming along well.

**Did you like it? It's not my best in my opinion but...Sigh Review please! I love hearing opinions and ideas! ;-) **


	14. The meaning of Power

_I wrote this chapter more out of guilt for suddenly dropping a story i had liked alot. (opps) SO it might not be too great, but you know. :) _

_Shall we?_

Living in the Shadows

(Paranoid Part Two)

Sasuke felt his fingers twitching, the bloodlust running through his veins goading him to kill. His vision was hazed over red, he wasn't sure if it was his hatred or his bloodline trait. But whatever it was it wasn't hindering him in anyway. He could still see his target, standing in the dark room with his arms crossed, his face showing nothing but mild curiosity.

Sasuke took a step forward slowly, measuring how much his strength grew with each move. He kept walking until he was only inches in front of his brother. The power was surging forward, impatient and furious.

Itachi cocked his head to the side, staring his brother down with his crimson eyes. "Interesting…"

Just the sound of his brother's voice sent another fresh wave of hate running through him. He smirked. Suddenly he lashed out at his older sibling, his fist flying out at lightening speed. Itachi moved over slightly avoiding the attack. He caught his brother's fist and twisted his wrist.

Showing no sign of pain Sasuke shot his other fist out, sending it into his brother's gut. He heard a small grunt but his brother didn't react any further. He maneuvered around the fist and moved to attack. Sasuke quickly yanked his wrist out of his grasp, spinning and counterattacking. He smiled in satisfaction as his brother had to quickly move out of the way. He was matching his speed easily…maybe he was even a fraction of a second faster. He ducked in time to avoid a kick before sending out one of his own. He flipped back using his brother's stomach for leverage. He saw Itachi recover quickly and rush at him, kunai in between his fist. He landed, taking out his own kunai and rushing to meet his brother. They slammed together, the sound of metal ringing in the empty room.

Sasuke could feel the electric tension engulf them; feel his brother's pressure against his own, Itachi's power mingling with his in a sick way. Neither of them were struggling to hold the other back, but they weren't strong enough to over power one another either. Sasuke laughed as his kunai began shaking under the weight of his brother's power. He could feel Itachi's begin to tremble under his. It was just too good. He was on even ground…it shouldn't be too hard to get ahead. Hatred was a surprisingly strong source for power. And oh yes, he had plenty of hatred, leaking out from the very core of himself, manifesting itself in power that surged through him like never before…

He began to laugh uncontrollably. Itachi stared at his brother, his face calm and calculated. His red eye's pierced into his younger brothers now matching ones. The only difference was that one held a hint of madness. His slipped one arm out of his brother's grasp and pushed with enough force to give himself a bit of distance. He took a moment to flex his arms.

"Brother..." Sasuke said grinning, trying to control his insane laughter. "Is this what it feels like all the time? This power? Tell me the truth brother!" Sasuke laughed louder, the sound bouncing off the walls. Suddenly he was in front of his brother, swiping a kunai at his neck. The speed at which he moved impressed Itachi; he found himself actually paying attention in order to dodge the attacks. His brother had actually become a worthy adversary.

"Brother, no need to keep secrets! This fire running through my veins runs through yours constantly?" He attacked his brother again, managing a small cut on his cheek that trickled down blood.

"You're still so young. If you continue to be reckless with your power brother it will be your downfall. You're going insane." Itachi said smoothly. It didn't sound as a matter of concern to him, just another simple fact.

Sasuke rushed at him, ignoring his words. It felt like fire was rushing through his veins every time he shot his foot out in a lightening fast kick or thrust out a fist with an immeasurable amount of power behind it. It didn't take long before Itachi began to get tired of being on defense. Sasuke was soon dodging attacks as well as delivering them.

Once, Sasuke got his brother in the face. It hit him hard, sending blood trickling out of his mouth. Something then seemed to snap.

His brother looked at him strangely, his head turning slowly and assessing his younger sibling. In an instant he felt himself slam against a wall. Dazed he let himself slip to the floor.

"I'm tired of playing games." Itachi's voice sneered. It seemed far away but echoed all around the room. Sasuke felt something growing in the air and it began to feel heavy around his shoulder. It was so tangible that for a moment Sasuke forgot about the burning fire rushing through his veins. He dodged to the left watching his brothers fist break through the wall. He quickly got to his feet.

"The power you have now brother is nothing compared to mine." Itachi swung at him. "Its uncontrolled, childish rage that could never be compared to mine, much less meet my level." He swung again, the air slicing around Sasuke. "It's a quick burst of energy and nothing more." He swung a third time. This time it his Sasuke in the cheek and sent him flying across the room. He slammed against the floor. "Once you learn how to properly control it then maybe you'll be able to do something more than just survive." His foot slammed mercilessly into his stomach and he skidded the rest of the distance to the wall. "To think I set this all up to be disappointed. Atleast you entertained me for a moment or two."

Sasuke coughed and tried to sit up, suddenly all his power seemed evaporated. He couldn't believe how quickly things turned. It was just two seconds ago he was going toe to toe with his brother. Now he was struggling to get up. And it had taken only one or two blows.

"I guess I'll just have to give up on you. I thought you'd be of use still. I was wrong."

___________________________________________________________________________________

Sakura and Hinata were running through endless tunnels. They had already avoided and rain of poison darts, the wall collapsing on them, the floor collapsing on them (twice) and some strange and apparently flesh eating beetles.

"Sakura, how do you know we're going the right way? We've been in these tunnels for a while now..." Hinata said breathlessly. Her meek voice echoed forward.

"You can't sense that?" Sakura asked her, stepping carefully over a strange formation of rocks piled in front of her.

"Well yes, but it could very well be Naruto or Shikamaru or someone. How do you know its Sasuke's? Besides, there seems to be no actual direction…"

Sakura shrugged. Hinata had a very good point. But call it a females intuition, or just practice from following Sasuke around everywhere, she just seemed to know she was going in the right direction. She had to be. As if for reassurance there was a new burst of power, but also a significantly weakened one. Worried she quickened her pace.

"Sakura you should slow down. You might get caught in a trap." Hinata warned.

Sakura heard her but put it off to the side. She was a good multi-tasker and more than observant. She could pick up the speed just a little bit.

"Sakura…"

She glanced back at the quiet spoken ninja to glare when she heard something click. She froze before hearing a dozen more clicks. "What the heck…" Suddenly the walls began to fall apart around them. "It's collapsing? _Again_?" Sakura turned around and tried to run but the floor gave out.

Shikamaru and his team walked aimlessly through the maze. About fifteen minutes ago they gave up on a strategize route. They're last plan had them dodging fireball/bee looking things for a couple of minutes, and then the dogs came. Panting and trying to conceal his limp they had just escaped the dogs after making several random sharp turns down the long corridors.

"You're bleeding." Ino said.

"What?" Shikamaru looked down at his leg and saw his wounds had started to bleed again. The constant running was keeping it from healing correctly. He paused to rewrap it.

"My, my someone has a little boo boo." A voice echoed.

They all looked up to see joker standing a few feet ahead of them.


	15. melted snow

_Been a while..._

_Shall we?_

* * *

Living in the Shadows

(Paranoid Part Two)

Naruto stalked towards Blizzard, growing impatient and anxious. He dodged an attack of ice shards, the maneuver hardly needing any conscious effort. Blizzard scrambled up from the ground and tried to summon something but before his hands could finish the required series of signs Naruto had them in his grip.

"I'm getting a little annoyed." Naruto growled. "It's about time we finished our little snow fight."

Blizzards eyes grew wide with fear, the former cockiness evaporating as quickly as the snow beneath Naruto's feet. He watched the young blond lift his fist menacingly.

"Wait! Wait!" Blizzard suddenly shouted. "Please."

Naruto froze. "Whaaat?" he groaned anxious to get the fight over with.

"That…that power you feel. The one that's separate from us. I can tell you the room that it's in. Your friend is in there, the brother." He said quickly. He flinched when Naruto moved to scratch his head.

"Cool, tell me where it is." Naruto said.

Blizzard watched at the red glow around him seemed to dim and his eyes took on its former trace of blue. "There's a door on the far side of this room. It's hard to find because it looks like the wall but if you look hard enough one of the bricks seems to be sticking out. It will lead you up to the room."

Naruto raised an eye brow. "Are you lying?"

Blizzard shook his head. "Would I ever?"

Scowling at him Naruto let him go. "Well, saves both of us a lot of trouble." He said walking away, now fully returned to the boy he'd previously been. The dangerous killer aura around him disappeared almost as if it never existed. The only proof was the melted snow and aching on Blizzards skin.

He watched the boy walk away from him. That silly shirtless blond, with his hands tucked causally into his ripped pants, shivering faintly. As if he was no longer a threat! Fury and embarrassment over took Blizzard. He was in control of one of nature's cruelest forces! And to have a child beat him down and then just walk away like it was nothing! He formed three ice crystals in his hand, shaking with rage. He threw one at the boy.

Naruto felt the cold point cut into his side and another into his shoulder. He turned around and avoided the third that was flying at his skull. He shook his head and disappeared. Blizzard looked around.

"I'm disappointed…" a low voice said from behind him. Blizzard spun around to see Naruto, flecks of red staining his blue eyes. His voice was unearthly, almost demonic. And before he knew it everything was dark.

Naruto walked away from the body towards the far side. The chill that had filled the room disappeared along with the snow. He found himself dragging his feet through soggy dead roses. He quickly got to the far side and found the brick. He pushed on it and the wall opened into a hall. He stepped inside a few feet but froze. He thought he heard screaming…

"What the hell?!" he shouted as the ceiling collapsed above him. He felt the debris dump on top of him along with something else that made a slight "oof" sound as it landed on him. He also heard a loud curse.

"Wha--" The object that had landed on top of him coughed and as the dust cleared he made out the outline of a small figure wearing a large coat. "Hinata?" he asked.

She stared down at him and blushed, aware that not only had she landed on Naruto, but he was shirtless, his tanned skin lightly covered in dust. "Oh!" she said quickly getting up. In her haste she tripped over something.

"Damn it!!" Sakura shouted angrily as Hinata crashed into her, sending them both to the ground again.

"Oh!" Hinata said again and scrambled off her.

"This damn place with its damn falling floors and damn mazes!" Sakura shouted angrily.

Naruto laughed. "Well, you're feeling better." He noted.

Sakura glared at him but her face softened the moment she saw his condition. The cuts that covered his body showed he had fought very hard for her. She smiled. "I see you're okay too."

His eyes widened comically. "Are you saying you cared about me!?" he teased.

Her face immediately scowled at him before she turned and dusted herself off. "Shut up."

Hinata cleared her throat. "Um…so, where are we?" she asked keeping her eyes on the ground and off of Naruto's bare chest.

"Um…some tunnel leading to Sasuke. He should be close."

Serious now they gave each other a determined look before continuing down the hall.

* * *

Shikamaru glared up at Joker who was leaning casually on the maze wall, grinning at him. "It seems I have to speed things up myself. You and your team seem to have a bit more self preservation than I gave you credit for." He tsked at them.

Joker stepped forward. Ino and Lee quickly went to cover Shikamaru's flanks, both of them aware of his wound that persisted to bleed. Something in the Clown ninja's eyes changed and made all three of them shiver in anticipation. He licked his lips, stating directly at Shikamaru and vanished.

Shikamaru ignored the disappearance and simply refocused his attention from sight to hearing. He waited patiently. "Ino!" he suddenly shouted pulling her. She was yanked out of the way just as Joker appeared. He vanished a second later before reappearing next to Lee. Quick to react Lee swung out at Joker, his fist just barely missing its mark. Joker quickly hopped backwards.

"Well, well…" he mumbled. He stared at the trio, his eyes glancing between each of them in turn before vanishing yet again.

"He's picking out our weak points." Shikamaru hissed. Involuntarily both Lee and Shikamaru's eyes flickered to Ino. "This is a pain…"

Ino just about roared with anger as she realized the weak point was her. Determined she set her feet firmly on the ground and flipped two kunai in her hands, ready to defend herself. Joker appeared behind her. She stepped out of the way of his attack and gave room for Lee who sprung out at Joker. Laughing he flipped backwards.

"My, my! You have a determined team here!" he hollered. He ran at Lee and met him in mid-fist. Lee's eyes widened, surprised at the power behind the punch. He grounded his feet into the ground to prevent himself from skidding back.

"You have much power," Lee said from gritted teeth "But they don't match the perseverance of youth!" He pushed his weight forward and sent the Joker flying back.

The Clowns face twisted in annoyance before he disappeared. "Ino!"

She spun around and found Joker reaching for her, his arm looking shadow like. Shikamaru tried to shout for her to stay where she was but he spoke too slowly. Reacting automatically she moved out of the way only to see the hand disappear. She backed into the arms of the real Joker who wrapped his arm tight around her neck and squeezed. Gasping for air she clawed at his arm, the image of her teammates running at her seeming to slow down and haze over. Desperately she flung her knife back towards his abdomen before passing out.

Joker let out a piercing scream as the kunai dug into his stomach. He let go of the unconscious blond. Before she could even hit the ground Lee was there grabbing her and quickly taking off.

"Oh no you don't!" Joker shouted angrily, his usually high pitched, playful voice turning dark and menacing.

Shikamaru stepped in front of him throwing hand bombs, forcing him to step back. Shikamaru smirked. "Me and you now buddy."

Joker let out a wide grin. "Oh yes, just my luck…"

* * *

_review and stuff :)_


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